It Began and Ended With You
by estychan
Summary: I suck at summaries, so this is a m!Cousland/Zevran fanfic based off of Zevran's first encounter with the Wardens, up to the very end of the game. Zevran's POV. m/m SLASH! If you don't like it, don't read. Rated M for later chapters.
1. Mercy

**So yeah, I'm aware I haven't worked on my Assassin's Creed 2 fic in quite some time... Writer's block is REALLY starting to tick me off when it comes to that story. -_-;; So I apologize to anyone who is waiting for me to finish that story. I may finish it, and I may not. Only time will tell, lol. Anyway, I've been wanting to write a Dragon Age Origins fanfic for quite some time now, so I decided to give it a shot. This story will be rated M for sexual content (a.k.a. yaoi goodness) in later chapters, so be forewarned: If you do not want to read smut, this story isn't for you. This story is written from Zevran's POV. Enjoy! ^o^**

**Chapter warnings: None.  
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My entire life, I believed that being an assassin was a rewarding job. I was given a family, a place to stay, and a different whore every night to use as I saw fit. I was paid well for my services, and life couldn't get any better, or worse, as the case may have been. I believed that nothing could change the risqué and exciting life I had been thrust into…

…and I couldn't have been more wrong.

It all began when an armor-clad human man approached me one night at a tavern I was enjoying myself in. I was surrounded by liquor as well as beautiful women, so I was as content as the cat who caught the canary. Then, the man approached me.

"You are Zevran, the Antivan Crow," he said, more of a statement than an actual question. I remember wondering who the man was and how he knew me, but then I realized that he may be a possible client. And so, I gave him my most charming smile and answered, "That I am. How may I be of assistance, good man?"

"My lord, Arl Howe, requires the assistance of a skilled assassin such as yourself," the armored man explained calmly to me. I remember thinking to myself, _An arl? With a man in his position, I could make quite a large sum of gold!_ I jumped on the opportunity immediately, grinning at the man.

"An arl needs my assistance, eh? Well then, who am I to refuse such an offer? Please, take me to this Arl Howe of yours."

And just like that, I had been drawn into what was, quite possibly, the most important mission I had ever been sent on during my entire career with the infamous Antivan Crows. I was told by Arl Howe that there were some Grey Wardens who had survived the battle at Ostagar I had heard so much about since arriving in Ferelden, and they were on the run after killing the king of Ferelden. The general public was divided in their thinking, some believing that the Grey Wardens were innocent, and others believing that they were guilty and deserved to die. I, myself, had no opinion on the matter. To me, they were just another job, and it was my duty to execute them as efficiently as possible.

As a part of my plan to capture the Wardens, I paid some travelers a few sovereigns for their services. When the Wardens passed through the area, it was their job to act as victims, pleading for help because some bandits had ambushed their caravan. If the Wardens really were "heroes," then they would take the bait without question.

They did.

Upon seeing my targets, I realized that they made a very interesting group. There were two very attractive, muscular men—the Grey Wardens, I presumed—a very pretty witch, a large dog, and a pretty redheaded woman who seemed to be the archer of the group. _So, these are the ones I must kill? Ah, very well._

It was a shame, though, that such beautiful and handsome warriors needed to do. Nonetheless, it needed to be done. I smirked and raised my right hand, gesturing toward my targets and alerting the archers with me to attack. Two of my men proceeded to push over a large boulder, completely cutting off my quarry's exit from the clearing. They were as good as mine. Already, I could taste victory… and it tasted _so_ sweet. The group's leader (or at least I thought he was the leader, due to how he had held before, with dignity)—the tall, human male with piercing blue eyes and neatly-combed blond hair—got to his feet and stared me down, drawing his weapon and signalling his allies to do the same. Realizing that they weren't about to go down without a fight, as I'd expected, I drew my two daggers and got into a threatening stance.

"The Warden dies here!" I yelled, grinning. Oh, this was going to be fun…

The two Wardens and the others fighting alongside them fought ruthlessly, effortlessly ridding themselves of the archers' threat. The Warden leader, however, focused his attacks on me, and only me. I actually felt flattered that he believed me to be the biggest threat. Unfortunately for him, his strength lay in brute force, whereas my strength was my speed and agility. Whenever I saw an opening, I took it and lashed out with one, or both, of my daggers without hesitation. I laughed when I heard him hiss in pain, realizing I had hit my mark when I saw blood beginning to flow from a fresh gash at his hip.

I was overcome by a sense of victory too soon, however. I yelped in agony when one of the redheaded woman's arrows embedded itself in my abdomen, and during my painful moments of distraction, I had been foolish enough to allow the man to slip behind me. There was a sharp pain when the pommel of his sword met with the back of my skull, then everything went black.

I know not how long I was unconscious for. All I know for sure is that when I awoke, I was tied-up. My wrists and ankles were bound by rope, and the dull, throbbing pain still remained at the back of my head. I noted, also, that someone had removed the arrow from my abdomen. How generous… though it was still bleeding and causing me pain. I winced and rolled over onto my side, eyes shut tight in pain.

"Ah… Ow…" When I next opened my eyes, the Warden and his allies were standing over me. It was then that I remembered how I ended up in such a state: the Warden had defeated me. One question still remained, however…

"Why am I still alive?" I wondered aloud to myself, instinctively struggling against my bonds. Ropes really were quite uncomfortable. "I assumed that if I did lose to you, you would not hesitate to kill me… yet here we are."

The blond Warden narrowed his eyes at me and said coldly, "I figured I would torture you first, then get some answers."

"Ahaha, I see. An effective way to get even the strongest man to talk. However, what say you I jump straight to the answer-giving, and we skip the torture?"

"Very well. Start talking. Oh, and to make sure that nothing you say is a lie…" The Warden snapped his fingers and immediately, his large canine companion leaped toward me and growled, curling back its upper lip and baring its sharp teeth at me in a threatening manner.

"So, I must be truthful or be torn to shreds by your dog? Very well. Ask away."

"First thing's first: Who hired you?"

"I believe the fellow's name was Teyrn Loghain. Ah yes, and Arl Howe."

"I should have guessed as much," said the other Grey Warden. "Loghain seems almost desperate to get rid of us."

"Enough, Alistair. What is your name, assassin?"

"Zevran Arainai, of the Antivan Crows," I answered a bit smugly, "or Zev, to my friends."

The Warden looked confused, clearly not recognizing something in what I said.

"The Antivan Crows?" he questioned, raising an eyebrow at me. He then turned his attention toward the redheaded woman, who had begun to speak.

"The Antivan Crows is an infamous group of assassins from Antiva," she said. "They are quite notorious in Antiva, from what I understand."

"Where did you hear this, Leliana?" the Warden asked her curiously.

"I am a bard, remember? I have heard many stories about the Antivan Crows, about famous assassinations being carried out under the cover of darkness without so much as a single witness."

"That is correct," I stated, casually looking the young woman over. "I, myself, only just arrived in Ferelden a little over a week ago. I was in Antivan up until then. I must say, I was not expecting to be hired for such an imporant mission so soon after my arrival."

"And now that you have failed your mission?"

"Let's put it this way. I was hired to assassinate the Grey Wardens and anyone traveling with them. Now that I have failed, my contact with the client is void."

"Meaning…?"

"The Antivan Crows have never tolerated failure. They will be after me once they get word of my failure in killing you. In that respect, perhaps there is a way we can help each other."

"I'm listening."

"I will pledge my loyalty to you, Warden. Since I have failed the Crows, my allegiance with them is forfeit. Perhaps I can be of use to you, and in return for my services, I get protection from those who wish me dead."

"I don't believe you," the Warden said with blatant distrust evident on his handsome features. "You have tried killing us once already. If I let you come with us, there will be no stopping you from trying to finish the job you started."

"I am true to my word. And if I should die on our travels, well… you will be saved the trouble of killing me yourself if you still distrust me at that time, and the Crows will get what they want, as well. You see? Everyone wins."

The Warden seemed to be thinking about my offer very carefully, trying to find as many reasons as possible to refuse. He could obviously find none. He sighed heavily.

"How do I know for sure you won't try, say, putting poison in our food? What's stopping you?"

"My dear Warden!" I exclaimed, eyes going wide with mock hurt. "What reason could I possibly have for doing such a thing? It is as I said: my contract with Loghain is void, since I failed to kill you. I have no personal vendetta against you, so you and your friends are safe. Going after you was merely business."

"I see." The Warden considered my words for a few minutes longer before nodding and smiling at me faintly. "Alright, Zevran. You can come with us, if you promise to behave yourself."

"What?!" exclaimed Alistair, crossing his arms and looking at his fellow Warden in disbelief. "We're taking the _assassin_ with us now?"

"Yes, Alistair, he is coming with us. His skills could prove to be useful in the future."

"I think that is a splendid idea," Leliana stated, smiling kindly at me.

"Well," I began, "I will certainly enjoy traveling with someone as young and beautiful as yourself." I grinned, winking at her suggestively. It was against my nature to not make an advance on such a pretty girl, after all. To not do so would be nothing short of criminal.

Much to my amusement, my words made her cringe somewhat. "On second thought… nevermind."

"Our party is becoming more and more interesting by the day," said the dark-haired witch with unnerving, yellow eyes. "It seems we'll have to be checking our food and drink much more closely from now on." I realized then that I was still tied-up and bleeding, and I turned my gaze toward the Warden with a smile.

"If you could untie me, it would be greatly appreciated. For you see, this arrow wound needs to be taken care of, and these ropes are chafing my wrists terribly…"

"Morrigan," said the Warden, nodding at the dark-haired witch. The woman clearly wanted nothing to do with me, but she reluctantly obeyed the Warden and wielded her staff. She made it a point to say she was not helping me for my sake, but because it was what the Warden wished of her. After "setting me straight," so to speak, she cast a healing spell on me and I instantly felt a pleasant tingling sensation through my entire body. I experimentally wiggled my torso a bit to see if I felt pain after doing so and sure enough, there was none. My wound had been healed from the inside, out. The absence of the stabbing pain was certainly welcome, but my hands were still tied. Literally.

As if in response to my thoughts, the handsome Warden knelt by my side and untied me, freeing my wrists and ankles from their bindings. I sat up and rubbed at my wrists uncomfortably, smiling at the man.

"Thank you. This is much more comfortable. Ah! I just realized that I don't know your name. If I'm going to be accompanying you, I need to know all of your names."

"It's Lanacai," he introduced himself, crossing his arms over his chest. "Lanacai Cousland."

"A very distinguished name," I noted, getting to my feet and looking up at the tall man. He was a head higher than me, being a human, so naturally I felt no taller than a woman when standing next to him. "Now, let's see if I can remember all of _your_ names. Let's see… This attractive gentleman here is Alistair; the bard is Leliana; the witch is Morrigan—"

" 'Witch'? After that insult, I wish Lanacai hadn't spared your life," Morrigan said coolly, glaring at me icily.

"My apologies," I stated apologetically, grinning. I glanced down at Lanacai's dog, seeing that it was no longer snarling at me and actually looked quite content.

"And your dog's name is…?" I saw a little smirk cross Lanacai's handsome features.

"Ripper," he answered with some amusement at the name he had chosen for his canine companion. "He's a mabari. Tough as steel, smart as a whip."

"A war dog?" I guessed.

"Correct."

"Hm, impressive. He is clearly very attached to you." I stretched my arms up over my head and relished in the pleasant cracking sensation in my back that relieved the soreness there. "Now then, shall we get going? There is no point in idling around here much longer, right?"

"Right. Let's move, everyone. We don't have anymore time to waste," Lanacai said firmly in that strong, distinguished voice. And just like that, the most exciting journey of my life had begun.

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**And that's it for chapter one! Please leave a review if you like it so far, and if you DON'T like it, I will accept constructive criticism. =3**

**See you in chapter 2!!! 3333  
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	2. Getting to Know You

**Welcome to chapter two of "It Began and Ended With You"! :) Not very much in this chapter, though Lanacai finds out about Zev's leather fetish... xD I promise the next chapter will have more action (not _that_ kind of action). Please R&R!!!**

**Chapter warnings: None.  
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Saying that traveling with this unlikely band of allies was boring would be nothing short of a lie. A _huge_ lie. Actually, I could safely say that they were the most amusing group of people I had ever had the pleasure of dealing with. Alistair and Morrigan, I learned, weren't fond of each other at all. I later learned that Alistair had once been a Templar, which clarified his dislike of Morrigan. From my understanding, an apostate and a Templar didn't make a good combination in most, if not all, situations. Those two were no exception to the generality.

Leliana appeared to be the mediator of the group, for her words of wisdom often caused Alistair to go silent with the inability to argue with her. Perhaps it was due to her previous dealings with the Chantry, but she always found some way to make things seem well again, as though any previous tension had never truly been there to begin with.

Then there was our seemingly fearless leader, Lanacai. Yes, he was by far the individual in our group who intrigued me the most. I found myself watching him very closely, trying to figure out for myself what it was about him that fascinated me so much. One night, a couple of days after I first joined the group, I found out the answer to my own question.

I first noticed it that night while we were sitting down to a dinner of fresh venison, which I had helped catch with Leliana. The night was particularly dark, as the numerous stars in the heavens were completely obscured by thick, ominous clouds. This darkness made the glow of the fire twice as welcome, lifting our spirits with a sort of hope that the same light would aid us in driving back the Blight, somehow. Deep down, though, we all knew that it would take much more than the inviting yet dangerous heat of flames to halt the destruction of mankind as we knew it. Each time this realization hit us, our spirits were once again dampened, and yet another unbearable bout of silence fell across the camp.

I watched Lanacai silently as he ate, trying to figure out more about him somehow without actually asking him any questions. I knew he didn't trust me fully yet, so I was quite certain any verbal efforts I made to find out more about him would be futile. So, I tried deducing who he was by examining his body language, how he interacted with the others. His demeanor seemed authoritative and somewhat aggressive, no doubt traits he had gained from being a human noble. However, behind that strength and power, I could see a subdued sadness in those blue eyes that surprised me. What, I wondered, could put such a look in the eyes of such a strong man?

Unfortunately, Lanacai seemed to feel my gaze on him and glanced over at me suspiciously. I remained calm, trying to show him that I wasn't up to anything sneaky.

"What are you looking at me like that for?" he asked me with a frown. "Thinking of ways to poison me without getting caught?" It was an effort to resist laughing at the predictable assumption, and I grinned at him.

"Of course not, Lanacai. I would not dream of betraying you in such a way. Do you think me so wicked?"

"It is difficult for me to trust someone who had previously been so eager to kill me for the sake of filling his coin purse." There was bitterness in his voice.

"Very well… Tell me how I can earn your trust, then."

"You can start by answering some questions and telling me more about yourself. That way, trust is built up for both of us: You will trust me enough not to repeat anything you say to anyone else, and I will trust you to be honest with me. Fair enough?"

I nodded. His proposal sounded fair enough to me, and what did I have to lose? I made myself comfortable before telling him to ask any question he wished to know the answer to. I expected this conversation would be a long one.

"Tell me about Antiva," he said to me after taking some time to make himself more comfortable as well. "I have never been there myself, so I do not know much about it."

"It is a beautiful place, Antiva," I answered him somewhat dreamily. "It is very hot there, but the royal palace in Antiva City is quite a sight to behold."

"You were born there, then," Lanacai concluded.

"Indeed, I was. I was born of a whore and raised by the whores in the workhouse. It was there that the Antivan Crows discovered me, and from what I hear, I fetched a pretty decent price."

"You were raised by whores? That must have been… interesting."

"It was, but I was comfortable there… more or less."

"What was your favorite thing about Antiva? The women, perhaps?"

I laughed. I had had a feeling he would mention women somewhere in our conversation. "Antivan women are beautiful, to be sure; however, my favorite thing about Antiva is the leather."

I hid my amusement at Lanacai's obvious bewilderment.

"The smell, the texture… they are like home to me. Nothing compares to the smell of Antivan leather. Once, I saw the most beautiful pair of Antivan-leather boots in a store window. I very nearly spent every coin I had on those boots, knowing that if I waited, someone would buy them before me. Alas, I was forced to walk away from that store window because I did not have nearly enough coin to purchase them."

"So, you have a leather fetish, and you kill people for a living. Great," remarked Lanacai sarcastically with an amused grin. Well, it seemed as though the ice was finally being broken, and I was feeling rather pleased with myself. _Don't stop now_, I thought to myself. _He seems to be getting interested._

"Would you perhaps like to hear of my exploits with the Crows? I know one or two good tales," I offered leaning forward expectantly. I did not want the conversation to end so soon.

"No, that's quite alright. I'm not sure if I can stomach such stories so soon after finishing such a good meal."

"Ah, so you are squeamish." And _that_ was where the conversation took a turn for the worse.

"I have seen more gore in the past few weeks than I ever have in my whole life. I am far from being squeamish, after all that I've seen," he murmured with a tone of bitterness in his voice. He looked away, but before his face became obscured by shadow, I saw in his eyes all of the pain and sadness of Ferelden. It was then that I thought, how much suffering has this man seen? How many lives has he seen get cut short right before his eyes? An interesting notion tugged at my heartstrings: What if he had lost family to the Darkspawn he and the others were fighting? Such an experience, I thought, is enough to bring even the strongest men to their knees, shedding tears like distraught children.

I hesitated a moment before setting a hand on his shoulder and smiling apologetically.

"Forgive me. I will not ask what you have been through, since it is none of my business. However, if you still wish it, we can continue this conversation later." Without another word, I stood up and made my way back to my tent for the night, deciding that giving Lanacai some alone time would be the best thing to do. What position was I in to pry into his affairs when he still didn't completely trust me?

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**End of chapter two. See ya next chapter! ^_^  
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	3. Not So Safe Haven

**So, this is a fairly long chapter that contains quite a bit of action, lol. Enjoy chapter 3, everyone!**

**Chapter warnings: None.**

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Why were we going to a place like Haven Village? It wasn't until I inquired into the matter with Lanacai that I learned what and who we were looking for in this place. A certain Brother Genitivi had gone missing on his search for something called the Urn of Sacred Ashes, which was rumored to contain the ashes of Andraste herself. Apparently, the arl of Redcliffe was seriously ill and the only way to cure his malady was with those ashes.

"So," I said to no one in particular as we ascended the mountain to Haven Village, "this Arl Eamon will be able to assist us in the battle against the Archdemon?"

"Yes," Alistair answered, turning his head to look at me. "Arl Eamon is an influential man here in Ferelden. His army will be able to provide a great amount of help to us. I'm sure of it." I sensed a great amount of fondness in his voice while he spoke of the arl and I crossed my arms, eying him with a knowing smirk.

"I take it you are very close with the arl?" I questioned presumptuously.

"I hear that tone in your voice, elf, and all I can say is '_ew_,' " Alistair gritted out with an icy glare sent in my direction. "Arl Eamon is like a father to me, and I owe him a great deal."

In spite of myself, I laughed. I couldn't help it; the look on Alistair's face was priceless. I couldn't believe Alistair had taken the bait so easily.

"A father figure, you say? Well, I am sure he will be delighted to see you again, if it has indeed been a long time since you last met."

"Right… Delighted…" Alistair was quiet after that mumbled comment, and I tilted my head to the side curiously as I watched him. I was snapped out of my reverie, though, when I heard Lanacai speaking to me.

"Don't mind him," he said to me, though his gaze was fixed on Alistair's back. "He's not certain about how Arl Eamon will react to him because… because of what I had to do."

"And what is it that you had to do, exactly?" How could I not be curious when Lanacai's voice held such a dire tone?

"I had to kill his son, Connor." There was such regret in the man's eyes that I couldn't stop my heart from reaching out to him. "He was… he was just a boy."

"Why did you have to kill him?" I had to ask. After all, Lanacai didn't seem like the sort of person who would kill an innocent child for no reason.

"He was possessed by a demon and became an abomination. I had no choice," he explained, though he obviously still felt quite terrible for what he had done.

"If he was an abomination, what choice did you have? You shouldn't blame yourself, Warden; You did the right thing," I said as reassuringly as I could muster. "It is better to be dead than under the control of a demon, anyway. You did the boy a kindness."

"I suppose you're right." I returned his smile as he agreed with me. He had a very nice smile, one that could make any woman swoon over him, I imagined. It captivated me, too. I had lusted after men before, but somehow, it seemed different this time. I couldn't put my finger on it. I was so preoccupied with my thoughts that I didn't realize when we arrived at the village entrance. When Lanacai alerted me to this fact, though, I stood at attention and watched with interest as he approached the soldier guarding the village.

"Who are you, and what is your business here?" the guard asked suspiciously. "Outsiders are not welcome here."

"We are merely passing through," Lanacai responded calmly, looking the guard right in the eye. "We were hoping to look at your wares in town, if possible. We're in need of supplies…" I cleared my throat discreetly to hide a tiny laugh, forcing myself not to grin. Lanacai was as good of a liar as myself, apparently, and just as sneaky.

The guard still didn't seem convinced, but with a reluctant sigh, he stepped aside.

"Purchase what you need at the general store, then be on your way. The faster you move on, the better," he stated gruffly.

Lanacai politely bowed his head to the man and thanked him before motioning for the rest of us to follow him into the village. Haven was unnaturally quiet, and it was rather unnerving for everyone in our little party. Lanacai's mabari Ripper, in particular, seemed very on-edge. I could hear him whimpering quietly beside me, and when I glanced down at him, his ears were back and his hackles were raised. In turn, that made _me_ feel more uneasy, since animals were more alert to when things were wrong than normal people were.

"Something about this place makes my skin crawl," admitted Morrigan with an odd air of calmness about her. "I know it's only a little village, but even then… there aren't even any children playing outside."

"That is very strange," Leliana agreed warily, glancing about her almost nervously. "The atmosphere is just so… so…"

"Thick, oppressive to a point where it's nauseating… Yeah, I know the feeling," muttered Alistair bluntly.

"Come on, let's look around," suggested Lanacai, whispering to us so any potential passersby wouldn't hear him. "This place is giving me a bad vibe, and Brother Genitivi has to be here somewhere. The sooner we find him, the sooner we will find the Urn, and the sooner we can get the hell out of here."

"We should watch ourselves while we're here," Alistair added. "Something tells me we're going to run into trouble in this place."

"Agreed. We must search every single building from top to bottom as quickly as possible. Brother Genitivi could be anywhere."

And that was exactly what we did. I was surprised that no door was locked, despite the fact that the villagers were all clearly very paranoid people. So far, the homes appeared to be normal enough… until we entered the next one. As soon as we opened the door, the strong smell of blood hit us like a cartful of bricks. Ripper started to growl but was soon silenced by some reassuring words from Lanacai and a pat on the head.

"This odor is one I know quite well," I mumbled, crossing my arms. "The smell of blood and death."

"Why doesn't that surprise me?" inquired Alistair so calmly that there was no way it couldn't be sarcastic. I merely chuckled. Oh, how obvious his distaste in me was.

"That's enough, you two," scolded Lanacai with a disapproving frown.

"Hey, guys?" came Leliana's voice from the other side of the room. "I think I found out where the smell is coming from." Once we all approached her, we saw exactly what she was looking at with such horror on her face: and altar that was absolutely covered in blood, perhaps the result of a ritual of some sort. The blood was fresh, since it was still dripping from the sides of the altar and onto the wooden floor. Alistair, too, was staring at the blood in horror.

"I could be wrong, but… meat doesn't bleed that much when it's being prepared for a meal," he said, turning up his nose in disgust at the smell that wasn't affecting me much at all.

"In that case, there is only one explanation… and it appears we arrived at just the right time," I realized, speaking to no one in particular and running my finger through the blood before rubbing the crimson liquid between my thumb and forefinger thoughtfully.

"Come on, we should get out of here before someone finds us in here. This just proves there is something very wrong with the people in this village," mumbled Lanacai with a sickened expression on his masculine features. We followed him out of the house, but unfortunately, we were seen… and the man seemed none too pleased to see us.

"What are you doing snooping around here, outsider?" he demanded angrily, grabbing the hilt of the sword at his waist and pulling it out of its sheath. It was quite a pathetic-looking blade, I admit. In my opinion, it was nothing more than a toy. I grinned and drew my long, twin daggers, getting into a battle-ready stance and staring the man down. The others also drew their weapons. No words were spoken by any of us as we launched into battle. Other villagers began joining in on the fight as well, but all of them were incredibly weak. It was only a matter of minutes before they had all been cut down and we emerged victorious, our armor and faces spattered with their blood. It didn't bother any of us, as we were all obviously accustomed to the feeling of another's person's blood mingling with our own sweat. I used the back of my hand to wipe the blood and sweat from my forehead before using a patch of nearby grass to clean my blades.

"Just what I needed," I said casually, stretching and sighing pleasantly as my muscles popped back into place.

"Of course the _assassin_ would take pleasure in killing," grumbled Alistair disapprovingly, glaring at me.

"If I am paid for doing so, then yes. Are you saying you would have rather let them kill you?" I questioned, not taking his harsh words to heart in the very least. I was pretty desensitized to what others thought of me, anyway.

"When did I ever say that? I never said that!"

"Then why are we still having this conversation?" Alistair fell silent then with a grudging glare and I smirked, sauntering away. "Now then, perhaps we should resume our search of the village." I decided to spare Lanacai the trouble of having to remind us again, since I had a feeling he might appreciate it. Judging from the smile he sent my way, I had assumed correctly. The next building we investigated was the general store… which I found somewhat humorous because the reason Lanacai had given to the guard at the village entrance upon arriving had been that we needed supplies, which had been a lie. Luckily for us, the shopkeeper didn't make every attempt to attack us when we walked in because he had not heard the fighting going on outside. However, we _were_ all covered in blood, and he was being wary and suspicious because of it. Without missing a beat, Lanacai spoke very calmly to him.

"We ran into bandits on the way here," he explained. "They gave us no choice. I assure you, you have nothing to fear. We were merely defending ourselves."

"Right… Well, what do you want?" the man questioned, nervously flicking his gaze to each of us in turn.

"I was hoping I could look around at your wares. I see you have weapons here, and I have been looking to buy a new sword for quite some time." I idly wondered how Lanacai had learned to lie so convincingly and if he had had a lot of practice and made a mental note to ask him later.

"Very well," mumbled the shopkeeper gruffly, crossing his arms. "Get your things, then get out. Outsiders aren't welcome here."

"Yes, we have heard," I stated indifferently, meandering around the shop and eying some of the weapons on the weapon racks. They were nice, but… not nearly as nice as our weapons. It was at that moment that I noticed a locked door on the other side of the room. Of course, it was probably nothing more than the shopkeeper's sleeping quarters, but I had noticed the man stiffen and become more nervous when he saw me look at the door. I knew a guilty man when I saw one, and he seemed exactly that to me. I glanced over at Lanacai, who was watching me quite closely, and nodded my head slightly in the direction of the locked door. He glanced over there and seemed to understand immediately that something must be in that locked room that the shopkeeper didn't want us "outsiders" to see. Why else would he look like he had just killed a man?

"If you would, Zevran," invited Lanacai, motioning toward the door with his hand. I smirked and walked over to the door, reaching into a pouch at my waist and removing several different-sized lockpicks from it.

"With pleasure."

"What are you doing?!" demanded the shopkeeper, his voice raising a slight octave higher in panic. From behind the counter, he drew a longsword and rushed out from behind the counter defensively. "Y-You can't go in there!" I took note of his stutter. If he wasn't guilty of something more than a petty little crime, I would have been surprised.

"Ah, it seems you _do_ have something to hide," realized Morrigan slyly, firmly gripping her staff with both hands. "You should know better than to hide anything from us."

Her words seemed to completely break the anxious man and he lunged violently at whoever was closest: myself. I managed to avoid his blade, though just barely, by swiftly ducking down and kicking his legs out from under him. He was really very clumsy, and within seconds of him hitting the ground, I was on top of him with the edge of my dagger pressed firmly against his throat.

"Leliana, you are a rogue, are you not?" I asked, not removing my deadly gaze from the stunned-silent shopkeeper for even a moment. "Use my lockpicks to open that door."

"I may not have to. Perhaps he has a key on him," she said thoughtfully. "Search him. It has to be on his person somewhere."

I did just as Leliana suggested, using my free hand to search the man's pockets and pat him down to make sure he wasn't hiding any concealed weapons. Sure enough, the key to the locked door was in one of his pants pockets, and I dangled it in front of his face with a sly grin.

"Not a very creative hiding place, my friend. Warden!" I tossed the key over to Lanacai before turning my attention back toward the angry shopkeeper under me. "Now, you be a good boy and toss your weapon aside."

"And if I refuse?" he challenged, taunting. What a stupid man… The cool metal of my dagger was in a position where I could easily kill him, yet he dared assume such a tone with me? He was bold, I had to give him that much.

"If you refuse," I began coolly, "I will slit your throat from ear to ear and use your esophagus as a new belt." I was aware of how sadistic I must have sounded, but I didn't care because my scare tactics seemed to be working. He had finally decided that his head was more precious than whatever he was keeping hidden in that room, and he reluctantly obeyed my request to throw away his sword. I nodded approvingly as he tossed the weapon aside, the sword clattering loudly where it landed several feet away from us. "What should I do with him, Lanacai? Personally, I don't think he deserves any mercy after exhibiting such violence, but I will leave it up to you to decide his fate."

"Keep him alive… for now," Lanacai ordered after a minute or so of thought. "If there is anything incriminating behind this door, anything at all that proves he is a dangerous man, then you may kill him. But until then, just make sure he doesn't do anything stupid." It sounded like a reasonable enough compromise to me, so I did as I was told and kept a close watch on the shopkeeper while Lanacai unlocked the door and made his way into the room. A few minutes later, I heard Lanacai's voice call out to me.

"There is a dead man back here," he called, sounding quite disgusted. "It is a soldier, and it looks like he is wearing armor from Redcliffe."

"What should I do?" I asked, smirking sadistically at the shopkeeper just so I could see the horrified expression on his face.

"Kill him. He deserves it more than the soldier back here deserved to lay in a puddle of his own blood. However, I am not without mercy, so kill him quickly."

Slitting his throat as I had originally intended to do wasn't exactly a quick method of killing, so I sighed with some disappointment and sheathed my dagger. I grabbed the man's head between my hands and the poor man barely had time to scream in protest before his head was twisted sharply to the side and his neck was broken. Quick and painless. I got off of the now limp body under me and got to my feet, entering the back room to see the soldier's body for myself. He was barely recognizable, having been bludgeoned to death with some sort of blunt object, which I soon discovered was laying near where the body was found. Leliana looked as though she wanted to vomit, and who could blame her?

"So, Lanacai," Morrigan began, "can we take the liberty of stocking up on supplies while we are here? It isn't as though we need to pay for them now, since he most certainly doesn't need the money now and won't be missing his wares."

"Fine. We need to be quick about it, though," said Lanacai, leaving the room. For the next several minutes, we all looked around the store for supplies we might need, gathering them up as we saw fit. I was in the process of examining some rather nice gauntlets when Lanacai called me over to him. I sauntered over curiously, wondering what he could want with me.

"Yes?" I inquired expectantly, wondering what was in the chest that Lanacai was rummaging through.

"Nothing really. I just found these, and I thought you might like to have them." He got to his feet and held out a pair of boots to me, smiling a little bit. My eyes widened as I took the boots from him, staring at them in near disbelief.

"Are these…? Yes, they are! The smell, the texture… There's no mistaking it; these boots are made of Antivan leather!" I laughed, as happy as a child with a shiny, new toy. "This means a lot to me. Thank you, Lanacai. I am flattered that you were thinking about me." I winked coyly at him, and he chuckled lightly in response.

"You're welcome. I remembered you telling me the other night that you were fond of Antivan leather, so I thought these boots would be a nice apology gift."

"Apology? My dear Warden, what could you possibly feel the need to apologize to me for? You have done nothing wrong."

"The other night, when we were talking and you commented on me being squeamish… I was rude. I acted very childishly by speaking to you so coldly when you know nothing of my past to begin with, so… I am sorry." My expression softened at Lanacai's genuine apology, and I smiled reassuringly at him with a shake of my head.

"You needn't apologize for that, my friend. I understand perfectly well why you acted that way; no harm done. Let's just forget it ever happened, shall we?" With that, I sat down on top of the chest that Lanacai had found the boots in and I put them on. They were so comfortable, and I grinned happily at Lanacai before going back to what I was doing prior to his calling me over. For whatever reason, I had a strange feeling of warmth inside of me at the thought of Lanacai having given me a gift. No one ever gave me gifts, so it actually made me feel pretty happy. _Perhaps I could return the favor sometime,_ I thought, glancing over my shoulder at the Warden.

"Alright, everyone," Lanacai said after a while, causing us all to give him our undivided attention. "It's time for us to get going and resume our search." Once he had gotten an agreement out of each of us, we left the store and continued our search of Haven. We were ascending a large hill to what appeared to be a Chantry when the sound of Lanacai grunting sharply in pain caught our attention. I was shocked to see a long, feather-tipped arrow protruding from his shoulder. I whipped out both of my daggers and ran ahead, using my acute senses to attempt locating the hidden assailant. As soon as I reached the top of the hill, I heard a branch snap in the bushes nearby. I flipped one of my daggers skillfully in my hand before throwing it forcefully into the brush. Instantly, I heard a choked scream of agony, and I knew I had hit the target dead-on. A man toppled out from behind the bushes moments later, my dagger sticking right out of his chest. I went over and wrenched my dagger free, and the sounds of angry yells entered my ears.

"We have company!" I shouted, hoping the others could hear me. It wasn't long before the others ascended the slope and yet another battle had commenced. This group of villagers was considerably stronger than the first, but unfortunately for them, they were still no match for our combined power. Once the enemies had been dealt with, I turned toward Lanacai with a frown.

"How badly are you hurt?" I asked, wondering if Morrigan had already taken the liberty of healing his wound. He smiled slightly and waved his hand in a dismissive manner.

"It isn't serious, Zev. It isn't even worth Morrigan's healing magic. Come on… the Chantry is the only place we have yet to look." Even as Lanacai and the others started toward the entrance to the Chantry, I was completely floored. Lanacai had called me by my nickname, something no one but my close friends had ever called me. I was in shock. Lanacai thought of me as a friend? He trusted me enough to think of me as such? I couldn't keep the grin off of my face at the thought and I strode after the others as they entered the Chantry, feeling almost giddy with the knowledge that Lanacai no longer thought of me as an untrustworthy ally who needed to be watched at all times.

Upon entering the Chantry, we encountered what we would come to learn was Andraste's cult. It was only a small group of followers present, as well as their leader, who wasn't pleased at all to see us, but they were all clearly mages and would be more difficult to bring down than the other villagers.

"Where is Brother Genitivi?" Lanacai demanded, glaring at the cult leader but not drawing his weapon just yet. "We know he's here, now tell us where you have hidden him!"

"I have no idea what you're talking about," the bearded man growled defiantly, obviously being less than truthful. "Get them!" Within minutes, the mages were at arms and we were launched into yet another battle with the Haven inhabitants. Spells were flying through the air from each side of the battle as those with weapons—Alistair, Lanacai, Leliana, and myself—used our own physical prowess to fight. Ripper was actually faring quite well, though I supposed that was to be expected of a Ferelden war dog. He snapped and snarled at any mage who dared get close enough to him, lunging at any attacker with two powerful rows of very sharp teeth. It was a frustrating battle, but the final blow was soon delivered and we emerged victorious yet again.

"Search for anything suspicious: trap doors, hidden rooms, anything of that sort, and tell me if you find anything," Lanacai instructed, wincing a little because the fight had irritated the arrow injury from before. We obediently split up, not leaving a single stone unturned in our search. After a while, Leliana called us over to the wall to the right of the Chantry altar.

"Did you find something, Leliana?" Lanacai asked her curiously.

"I think so," she answered, both hands resting on the stone wall. "Look, right here… There's a bit of a gap here between this section of wall and that section, and it's _just_ big enough to peek through. I can't see too much because of how small the gap is, but it looks like there's another room through here."

"Alistair," hinted Lanacai, receiving a nod from the Templar in return. Both Wardens positioned themselves near the wall, gripping whatever sort of handhold they could find before pulling firmly in an attempt to open the secret room. Several minutes passed, but there was no success.

"Damn it," Lanacai cursed under his breath. "Keep looking. There must be some way to open this door, and I'm willing to bet it's hidden somewhere in this room."

We did another search of the Chantry, checking any area that we may have previously overlooked. I focused on the altar in particular, since it was the one object that no one had checked very closely. I ran my hands over the altar, checking to see if there was any kind of switch. Sure enough, on the opposite side of the altar was a small, slightly raised stone. I pressed down on that stone and felt it go down amidst the other stones with a soft clicking noise. As a result, the hidden door slid open, revealing a room of bookcases.

"I don't know what you just did, Zev, but it worked," praised Lanacai with a smile. I took a small bow to humor him, smirking, before following the others into the hidden room.

"Finally, someone has come for me!" exclaimed an unfamiliar voice. We soon discovered that the voice had come from an older man on the opposite side of the hidden room. One of his legs appeared to be badly hurt, preventing him from leaving the spot on the floor where he currently lay. We all approached him, and Lanacai began to speak.

"Are you Brother Genitivi?" he asked, kneeling by the man's side.

"Yes, that is my name. And you are?"

"Lanacai Cousland. And this is Zevran, Alistair, Leliana, and Morrigan," he stated, introducing us and gesturing to each of us respectively as he did so. "How long have you been here?"

"Days. Weeks. I've lost track…"

"Was it the villagers who did that to your leg?"

"Oh, yes… Did it so I couldn't escape… so I wouldn't escape with their secret."

"Secret? Do you mean the Urn?"

"Ah, so you know of it. Yes, the Urn. At the top of this mountain is a ruin, and I'm sure that the Urn is inside somewhere. The old man… he has an medallion around his neck that is the key to the ruins. I was able to see him use it before I was captured. It's when they discovered me spying on them that they captured me."

"Zev, go see if that medallion is still on his body," Lanacai said to me. "In the meantime, Leliana, help me take care of Brother Genitivi's leg. He needs medical attention right away."

I left the hidden room and walked over to where the cult leader lay dead and facedown on the floor. I turned him over onto his back and immediately saw the medallion around his neck, attached to a thin, metal chain and resting on his unmoving chest. I grabbed the medallion and yanked on it roughly enough to break the chain, eying the strange pattern on the object that fit comfortably in the palm of my hand. It didn't look like any kind of key to me… but if Brother Genitivi said he saw it used as one, I figured that it must be so. I brought the medallion into the hidden room and showed it to Brother Genitivi while Lanacai and Leliana were bandaging his injured leg.

"I am assuming this is what you spoke of?" I inquired hopefully. The injured man smiled at me and nodded, affirming my suspicions. He winced when Lanacai firmly tied the last bandage in place, but other than that, he seemed completely fine.

"I will lead you to the ruins," offered Brother Genitivi, gingerly rubbing his bandaged leg in an attempt to ease the pain. "I will not be able to continue my search for the Urn on my own in this condition, but all of you are strong and able."

"I am sorry, Brother Genitivi, but I think it would be safer if you remained here while we look for the Urn. Just tell us how to use the medallion, and we'll come back for you once we have gotten what we need," Lanacai proposed, frowning at him. I knew Lanacai was right. In his state, Brother Genitivi would only slow us down… and we couldn't afford to waste anymore time.

Brother Genitivi, though, wasn't having any of that.

"Absolutely not. I'm coming with you. I have come too far to just turn back now. I only require that you help me walk up the mountain to the ruins, since I don't believe I will get very far on my own right now with this injured leg… That is the only foreseeable issue for me." It was clear that the man's mind was made up and that nothing would change it, so finally, Lanacai had no choice but to comply with his wishes.

"Very well. Please, show us where the ruins are. We don't have anymore time to waste here."

"It will be my pleasure. If you don't mind, though, would you let me lean on you as we walk? I can still do no more than limp…"

"Of course."

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**Hope you enjoyed chapter 3! :) Thank you so much to everyone who has stuck around for the first three chapters. Your feedback has been very appreciated. I will put up chapter 4 as soon as possible, though I have no idea when it will be finished, lol. Stay tuned!  
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	4. The Urn of Sacred Ashes

**Yaaaay chapter 4 is finally up! :D R&R please! ^_^**

**Chapter warnings: Sexual references (you'll see what I mean when you get there, lol)**

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The door to the ruin itself made me feel quite small and insignificant in comparison; it was huge, possibly even taller than twenty-feet in height. Brother Genitivi asked Lanacai for the medallion, and he handed it over.

"Let's see… this part slides out like so, and then I turn this here… Got it." He smiled and limped closer to the door, placing the medallion in a similarly shaped slot on the door and turning it. The sound of a mechanism in the door deactivating resounded on the stone all around us, and with a little effort from all of us, the towering doors were pushed open and we took our first steps into the ruin. Our footfalls echoed throughout the large hall, sending a few bats high above our heads reeling from their roosts in the high ceiling. It was a very impressive place, indeed.

"Magnificent, isn't it?" inquired Brother Genitivi upon seeing me admiring the ancient ruin. "Just imagine what it must have looked like in is former glory."

"Do you know where the Urn is probably located?" Lanacai inquired hopefully. "Any leads you can give us would be a great deal of help."

"I would imagine it is quite deep inside the ruin, for the purpose of protecting it. If I were you, though, I would be very careful. No doubt the men who built this ruin put obstacles in place to keep anyone from stealing the Urn."

"By 'obstacles,' I am assuming you mean traps, right?" Alistair questioned tentatively.

"That's right. So, if one of you isn't careful, you may very well get a sharp skewer up your arse. So be wary of your surroundings at all times; that is my suggestion to you all. I will remain here to further examine the etchings on the walls of the ruin. Should you need me for anything, you know where to find me. Good luck, to all of you."

And with those well-wishes, our exploration of the ancient ruin had begun. Being rogues, Leliana and I were the ones who kept our eyes peeled for traps at all times. Brother Genitivi was right; the place was absolutely littered with them. Unfortunately, we were not without company. There were still cultists present in the ruin, and they were more ruthless than those we encountered in the village. Darkspawn and drakes were not in short supply, either, once we were in the underground tunnels of crystal that were connected to the ruin. All of us jumped upon hearing a distant sound that sounded a lot like a growl or a roar.

"Did you hear that, too?" Alistair asked no one in particular.

"Yes, I did. I could be wrong, but I feel like that sound means we're getting close," said Lanacai, turning to look at us. "Come on. We have no time to waste."

I followed without protest, pondering silently to myself about what could have made the sound. The Archdemon, perhaps? No… if it were the Archdemon, Lanacai and Alistair would have sensed it right away, being Grey Wardens and all.

The path widened slightly and led into a large cavern, light beaming through gaps between the stones and casting a brilliant glow on the rocks.

"You, there!" boomed a gruff voice, drawing our attention to the speaker. It was a man in his forties, it looked like, with a black beard peppered with grey. He was definitely a fighter, if the massive, scary-looking battleaxe across his back was any sort of hint. He would be a tough opponent if there were no other option but to fight him. Behind him was a group of three other armored warriors, as well as a mage. Oh, yes… fighting such a group would be tricky, at best. "What is your business here?"

"We are looking for the Urn," stated Lanacai bluntly. "Do you know where we can find it?"

"Even if I do, I am certainly not telling the likes of _you_, outsider! This is hallowed ground, and you are not welcome here! Andraste will shield us, Her loyal servants, with Her great wings, and we will see to it that all of you are vanquished in Her name!"

Something appeared to click in Lanacai's brain then, and his expression turned graver still.

"Andraste is a… dragon?" he questioned in low tones. _A dragon!_ I thought with awe. I had never before seen a dragon with my own two eyes, though judging from the loudness of the roar we had heard previously, it was a large one, indeed. A High Dragon, perhaps, which to my knowledge were quite rare nowadays. I was quite skeptical that the dragon was Andraste, however… but if it was possible for Her ashes to cure Arl Eamon's malady, perhaps it was also possible for the dragon to be Andraste's current physical form.

The heavily-armored cultist smirked, spreading his arms wide with a flourish as he spoke. "Andraste is capable of many great and miraculous deeds, foolish man. Her mortal body is naught but ash now, so what more suitable form is there for Her, if not a mighty High Dragon? She protects us, and now it is our turn to protect Her from you. _Get them!_"

I had had an inkling that a battle would be inevitable, and it appeared that I was correct. The bearded man went right for Lanacai, roaring a battle cry as he swung that menacing battleaxe. Because Lanacai was younger and had more stamina than he did, the blow was evaded fairly easily and his own blade was swung upward in retaliation, negating the blow with a loud _clang!_ Morrigan volunteered to fight the mage, casting some kind of spell on herself that made her shapeshift into a large, fearsome spider. Her pincers clacked furiously as she sprinted toward the mage on all eight of her legs. The sight of such a large spider made me shudder in disgust, but only for a moment, before I proceeded to battle one of the three armored men accompanying the bearded man, easily dodging his sword. Because of his heavy armor and sword, the man's movements were clumsy and slow, giving me ample time to strike hard and fast with my daggers. I ducked just in time to avoid getting beheaded and seconds later, I swiped my blade swiftly across the man's throat, blood spraying onto me as the man gurgled on his own blood and collapsed to the rocky ground. I licked my upper lip, tasting the man's blood on my tongue as I did so.

I turned my head just in time to see one of Leliana's arrows embed itself between the eyes of the second armored man, then again to see Alistair rip his sword out of the bleeding abdomen of the third soldier, pushing the dying man over by shoving against his abdomen with the heel of his boot.

I glanced over to see how Morrigan was faring against the mage and cringed upon seeing that she had completely enveloped the mage in sticky strands of spider silk and was now scurrying away and leaving the poor bastard to suffocate. My gaze was torn away from the scene, however, when I heard a loud clashing of metal from my right, and I turned to see Lanacai on the ground in a rather precarious position. The only thing keeping the bearded man's axe from embedding itself in Lanacai's skull was Lanacai's longsword, and behind the sword there were only about six inches of open air. Lanacai was straining to keep that axe where it was so that it wouldn't cleave his head in two, but I knew he wouldn't be able to stave away the blade for much longer. His arms were already visibly trembling with the strain being put on them.

Without another moment's hesitation, I ran forward, my daggers poised to strike, and in a split second, both daggers were embedded deep in the brute's neck, a blade in each side of the bleeding column. The hot blood flowed down the blades of my daggers and onto my hands, and within seconds of choking on his own blood, the man fell to the ground and his axe clattered beside him as blood pooled on the floor of the rocky cavern. I bent down and removed my daggers from the man's neck, looking down at Lanacai who was taking a few moments to regain his strength and staring up at me with what appeared to be shock.

I grinned at him and cleaned my daggers somewhat before sheathing them, bending down to help Lanacai to his feet.

"You are a very lucky man, Warden," I stated while helping him to stand. "A few seconds later and you would have been fileted."

"Yeah, no kidding," Lanacai agreed with a small grin of his own, clapping me on the shoulder in a brotherly manner. "Thank you, Zevran."

"You are most welcome. Now then, perhaps we should continue onward. Shall we?" I winked briefly at Lanacai before making my way over to the metal door embedded in one of the cavern walls, opening it. I squinted when the light hit my eyes that had become so accustomed to the overall darkness of the cavern, and it was a few more moments before I could comfortably see the snow blanketing the ground without being blinded by the brightness of it all. We warily stepped out of the cavern into the open, glancing around us for more enemies.

"Hey," I heard Alistair mumble to Lanacai a few moments later, "didn't that guy say there's a—" He was cut off when that same roar from earlier shattered the silence of the mountain, accompanied by the sound of flapping, leathery wings. Alistair sighed, scratching at his head absently. "—dragon…"

"Everyone, _hide_," Lanacai hissed urgently, inciting us all to retreat back into the cavern enough so that the large reptile would not spot us. The dragon circled overhead for a few minutes before settling itself on a rocky ledge about thirty feet up in what I presumed was its nest, folding its wings upon lying down. Its jaws opened wide in a yawn, the sunlight glinting ominously on its deep purple scales and its two rows of pearly, razor-sharp teeth.

"Now what do we do?" Leliana asked quietly, her gaze transfixed upon the resting dragon.

"Isn't it obvious?" asked Morrigan boredly with a sprinkling of sarcasm. "We must kill it before it kills us."

"Are you out of your bloody mind?" exclaimed Alistair in a voice that was only a little louder than a whisper. "I know I've done some pretty stupid things in the past, but I do _not_ want to add 'rushing up to a dragon in broad daylight without any kind of plan' to that regrettably-long list."

Lanacai was silent for a few minutes, ignoring Alistair and Morrigan bantering back and forth. He looked like he was thinking about something quite carefully, the look that one gets when they're weighing their options to avoid any unfortunate mistakes. Finally, he spoke.

"Killing the dragon won't be necessary, especially if the possibility exists that the dragon is Andraste. Now, there is a path that stretches from here to the other side. It goes right by the dragon's roost… but if we are quiet, we will be able to sneak by undetected. Follow me, and make haste."

We crept back out into the open and started down the rocky path at a fairly good pace while trying to avoid grabbing the dragon's attention. If we heard the dragon stir at all in its nest, we quickly found a place to hide, usually behind one of the many large boulders littering the area. Then, once we were sure that the dragon was still facing away from us, we continued on our way to the door at the opposite side of the path. Relief swept over us when we had safely entered the room on the other side of the door, still in one piece.

"Well, that was one of the most terrifying experiences I have ever had," Alistair stated simply, wiping some sweat from his brow. "Other than facing darkspawn for the first time, of course."

"Have you come on a pilgrimage to find the Urn of Sacred Ashes?" an unfamiliar, masculine, and eerie voice asked suddenly. We all abruptly looked toward the source of the unnaturally echoing voice and spotted an armoed man on the opposite side of the room, staring wistfully at us. He wore an elaborate helm, indicating that he was some sort of general in the king's army. It was then that I realized that the man was semi-transparent, and I quickly changed my assumption to "he _used_ to be in the army."

"Who are you?" Lanacai asked, approaching the armored man cautiously.

"Once, I had a name… but it has been so long since I have had use of it that I have forgotten. I am the Guardian of the Gauntlet."

"The Gauntlet? What's that?"

"The path to the Urn," the Guardian replied. "If you are here, then that is what you seek. If I find that you are worthy of this pilgrimage, you may proceed into the Gauntlet and should you safely progress through the challenges ahead of you, you make take a pinch of Andraste's ashes from the Urn."

"Speaking of Andraste," said Alistair suddenly, "is that dragon snoozing outside _really_ Her? One of the cultists we encountered on the way here said she was, and I am merely curious if there is any truth in what he said."

"No, the dragon is not Andraste. The inhabitants of the village believed what they wanted to believe, as ludicrous as their beliefs were."

"How, exactly, are you going to judge whether or not we are worthy of this pilgrimage to find the ashes, if I may ask?" I inquired suddenly with my arms crossed and one eyebrow raised. Everyone's gaze was drawn to me for a moment before returning to the Guardian.

"Each of you will be asked a question about yourselves, and should you answer correctly and truthfully, you are worthy of entering the Gauntlet."

"Very well," said Lanacai before I had a chance to say anything else. "Ask your question, Guardian. I will be the first to answer."

"Ser Lanacai Cousland," the Guardian began, shocking us all with the knowledge that he somehow knew Lanacai's name without it ever being mentioned, "you were made to leave your mother and father behind and join the Grey Wardens rather than remain and suffer the same fate they did at the hands of Arl Howe's men. Do you regret that you did not stay with them in death?"

The question seemed to floor Lanacai and he was silent for the longest time, lowering his head and clenching his hands into tight fists at his sides. I heard him inhale a shaky breath, and I frowned. So, he had lost his parents and had been made to leave them and join the Wardens. I couldn't help but feel some amount of sympathy for him.

Finally, Lanacai answered the painful question with an equally painful answer. "If I could go back in time and die fighting to keep my parents safe… I would do so without any hesitation whatsoever. I was not supposed to walk away alive that night… and honestly, I wish Duncan had never come to invoke the Wardens' right of conscription on me. If he hadn't… I would still be with my parents."

"An honest reesponse, if ever I heard one," stated the Guardian ruefully with a small nod of approval. "You are worthy." He turned his ghostly, distant gaze on Alistair next, who visibly went tense.

"Alistair, you were present at Ostagar the night the king, the Wardens and Duncan perished because of Teyrn Loghain's treachery. Do you regret not having the ability to shield Duncan from the blow that killed him?"

"Of _course_ I regret it," Alistair said coolly with a frown. "I regret it every moment of every day that I could not die by Duncan's side. I went through my Joining to fight darkspawn, and in lieu of this fact… Duncan sent me with Lanacai here to light the signal fire that Loghain was _supposed_ to use to know when it was time for him to aid us Wardens against the darkspawn. He betrayed us, and as a result, Duncan was killed. If I had taken the blow instead of him... everything would be better." He fell silent then, a soft shimmer in those brown eyes of his.

"You, too, are worthy of this pilgrimage." He paused. "Leliana… you claim to have dreams that you believe are messages from the Maker Himself…"

"That is correct."

"The Maker never spoke to you, child. He only ever spoke to Andraste, and I know this for a fact. You made up the visions to get attention from the brothers and sisters at the Chantry, did you not?"

Leliana's eyes widened, and she exclaimed in outrage, "Of course not! Whether or not you believe my visions are real or not is entirely up to you, but they are real to _me_. All I ask is that you please respect that, and accuse me no further."

The Guardian chuckled lightly, a bone-chilling sound, and smiled a bit at her. He clearly wanted to say something to her, but he refrained from doing so and merely nodded to show her that she would be able to pass into the Gauntlet with the rest of us.

Leliana huffed irritably, glancing away and crossing her arms. My guess was that she felt foolish for her outburst, and who could blame her, really?

I was hoping that Morrigan would be the next one to speak, but unfortunately, I was the next person the Guardian looked at. I could only imagine what his question toward me would be… and quite frankly, I wasn't looking forward to finding out.

"Zevran Arainai," he addressed me gravely, "you are an assassin, one who kills for money. Do you feel any remorse over the deaths of any of your past victims?"

"No, not really. Killing them was business, nothing more." As awful as I'm sure it sounded to everyone else, I didn't care. It was how I really felt, so who were they to judge me for it?

"I see. And do you feel remorseful for killing the woman named—"

"How do you know about that?" I demanded, cutting him off before he could say the name I desperately did not want to hear. I was sure that my face perfectly displayed the shock and horror I was experiencing at that moment.

"Do you regret killing her?" he asked again, and I was grateful that he did not try saying her name again. I crossed my arms, brow furrowed as my mood had gone from good to worse in a very short period of time.

"Alright, yes, I _do_ regret killing her. Now move on." I looked away defiantly, refusing to answer anymore of the Guardian's questions. The last audible phrase I heard before I blocked everything out was the Guardian saying that I was worthy. I know not the question the Guardian asked of Morrigan, because it wasn't until after the dreadful interview was over for all of us that Lanacai lightly shook me by the shoulder to rouse me from my negative thoughts.

"Come on," he said. "It's time for us to go into the Gauntlet."

I flashed a brief smile at him, nodding slightly. "Right… Lead the way."

We continued on past the Guardian into the Gauntlet, and the challenges we faced there were sometimes very harrowing. One such trial was where we had to engage in battle with spectral versions of ourselves, equipped with all of our skills and abilities because, well… they were us. There was one trial in particular that wore strongly on Lanacai's self-control: having to face a spectre of his deceased father. After the encounter, Lanacai was quieter than usual for the remainder of the trials, but he had every reason to not want to talk very much. He had just spoken face-to-face with his dead father, over whom he felt so much guilt for not protecting. If I had experienced something so heartbreaking, chances are I wouldn't have wanted to speak much, either…

Finally, we came to the final trial, and we were met by a wall of flames as tall as a full-grown man. I put my hands on my hips and frowned at the dancing flames, glancing about for any sort of hidden path to go around the obstacle with. I saw nothing, which left us in quite a dilemma.

"Well, it looks like we'll just have to turn back," stated Morrigan indifferently, tapping her foot impatiently. I couldn't help but wonder why she was even traveling with us if she didn't want to be there… but I resisted asking her because I knew it would most likely cause some unnecessary drama and a huge migraine.

"Wait," ordered Lanacai, his brow furrowing as he took a step forward, toward a pedestal with some sort of carving on it that none of us seemed to have noticed until Lanacai brought it to our attention. He was quiet for a minute, reading what was carved into the stone pedestal, and he sighed heavily. I raised an eyebrow at the Warden and stepped toward him.

"What is it?" I asked him. "It isn't saying that the only way to pass this fiery barrier is by cutting off an arm and throwing it into the flames, is it?"

Lanacai snorted briefly with amusement and grinned a bit at the sick sense of humor I prided myself on so much. "No, nothing like that. In short, it is saying that we must strip down to our smallclothes—or less—if we have any hope of getting to the Urn."

"We have to _what?_" exclaimed Alistair, his eyes going wide; I could have sworn I saw a pink hue dart across his boyish face. "Perhaps you merely read it wrong?" I couldn't help but laugh at how hopeful Alistair sounded, and before he could even ask me what was so funny, he spluttered when he saw that I was already beginning to strip down to wearing practically nothing.

"What in the name of Thedas are you doing?! There are _women_ here, you know!"

I smirked deviously at him, setting my gloves near my Antivan-leather boots so I could work at the buckles of my armor more easily. It amazed me that Alistair was so concerned about being indecent in front of women when my proceeding to strip caused even Leliana—who was usually so very proper—to flush like a lovestruck adolescent. Were Fereldens really so finicky when it came to such things? I dropped my armor to the floor with the rest of my garments once I had finished unbuckling the many clasps and buckles holding it on, leaving myself in nothing but my smallclothes (and I was even tempted to take _those_ off just to see what kind of reaction it would draw from the already blushing templar). Much to my surprise—and pleasure—I heard Lanacai's breath catch in his throat beside me, though other than that tiny little sound he had allowed to slip through, he was silent.

"You really could learn a thing or two from me, Alistair," I said to him in a teasing, rough tone of voice. "I mean, look at Morrigan. Even _she_ is staring at me with a glassy, lustful gaze."

" 'Lustful,' hm? You have it all wrong, my elven friend. No, you see, this is the look I get when I am trying so hard to suppress my vomit that I cannot focus on anything else," Morrigan said almost too calmly for the content of her statement. She rolled her eyes and shrugged, seeing that there really was no other option but to strip if we wanted to get to the Urn on the other side of the wall of fire. "All I can say is, there _better_ be some treasure in here worth taking…"

Morrigan started to undress, as did Leliana and Lanacai. After some careful persuasion on Lanacai's part, Alistair grumbled something under his breath that I couldn't quite make out and finally began to undress himself. Alistair had a great build, just like Lanacai… but it was Lanacai who drew most of my attention. Even though Alistair and Lanacai appeared to be only a couple of years apart in age, Lanacai's body looked like that of a man who was very seasoned in the ways of battle. It exhibited more scars than the body of the templar, and I found myself wondering how he had gotten those scars, as a few of them seemed quite old. However, I knew that now was not the time to pry. A couple of times, I felt Lanacai staring at me (admiring my body, no doubt) and turned my head just in time to catch him in the act the final time. In reaction to the eye contact, Lanacai quickly looked away and discreetly cleared his throat. I smirked knowingly at him before making my way toward the wall of fire. I wasn't expecting it at all when I felt Lanacai roughly grab my shoulder to stop me from going any further, and I felt a jolt of heat shoot through me that I was certain wasn't caused by my close proximity to the fire. I raised an eyebrow at him questioningly.

"I'll go first," he stated, smiling gravely. "I would rather risk getting burned than letting any of you get hurt instead."

"How selfless of you!" I exclaimed dramatically with a grin. "Very well. After you, my friend." Lanacai took his hand from my shoulder and proceeded toward the fire. I found myself cringing a bit when he took one step into the flames, half expecting him to start screaming in agony as the smell of his burning flesh filled by the air, but the screaming and the smell never came, and within moments, Lanacai was looking at the rest of us through the flames.

"You can all proceed through, now. It's perfectly safe, not a single burn on me."

Vaguely impressed, I made my way through the fire after Lanacai. He was right; all I felt was a pleasant warmth dance across my skin as the flames licked at me, but not a single burn was left behind. Soon enough, I was standing beside the Warden with a broad grin upon my lips.

"That was rather… _stimulating_, was it not?" I practically purred to him, wondering what kind of reaction I would be able to draw from the man. Was that a blush I just saw creep across his cheeks?

"Perhaps… a little bit," he mumbled admittedly, and for whatever reason, it was difficult for him to make eye contact with me. I chanced a downward glance and smirked deviously at what I saw. If the prominent bulge in his smallclothes, or the fact that his "problem" was practically sticking out into the open, was any sort of clue, I had to guess that he had been _very_ stimulated by the sensuous warmth of the flames.

"Ah, I think, perhaps, that it was more than _just_ 'a little bit'… but, I could be mistaken." I shrugged indifferently, and a short time later, the rest of our group (including Ripper) had joined us on the other side of the wall of fire. Once all of us had successfully passed through the flames, the fire went out, allowing us to go back and retrieve our clothes. We did so rather promptly, since the chill in the air had returned as soon as the fire was extinguished. Goosebumps prickled all over my body and I stopped down to pick up my armor, carefully putting all of it back on before putting my gloves and boots back on, as well. The women were already dressed by the time I was finished, but it took Lanacai and Alistair a little longer due to how much armor needed to be put back on… and, in Lanacai's case, the fact that he had a certain predicament between his legs probably wasn't making the job of putting his armor back on any easier. I hadn't had that problem because, well… I did not wear grieves like he did.

Once he was sure all of his armor was properly returned to his body, Lanacai turned and we immediately saw, on the other side of the room, a small set of stairs leading up to a raised, stone altar. On the altar was the Urn.

"What a lovely vase," I mused thoughtfully. "I really should get one for my home." I smiled when I heard Leliana laugh a bit at that behind me. We followed Lanacai up the stairs to the Urn, standing around it and looking down at it curiously. Lanacai removed a small pouch from around his neck and opened it, carefully removing the lid of the Urn and taking a pinch of the ashes within to put inside of the pouch for Arl Eamon. As soon as he was finished, he replaced the lid and sighed quietly.

"We did it. We really found the legendary Urn of Sacred Ashes," he said as though in disbelief.

"That, we did," murmured Leliana with a smile, crossing her arms. "You know, we should tell Brother Genitivi about the Gauntlet and the Urn. That way, other believers can come here and take a pinch of the ashes for themselves as a means of solidifying their faith."

"Is that really such a good idea?" questioned Morrigan skeptically, frowning at her.

"Why wouldn't it be? If they are a firm believer of Andraste, they should be allowed to come here and at least see her physical remains for themselves! Right, Alistair?"

"What? Oh… right." He smiled slightly, nodding at Leliana in agreement. Lanacai seemed to consider Leliana's words for a few minutes before sighing and deciding that it was a good plan.

"Alright; we'll tell Brother Genitivi. Let's start heading back, now that we have what we came here for."

I was not about to protest. I was as tired of this old ruin as he was, no doubt, and I couldn't want to get some sleep. It had been a very long, very eventful day, and we were left weary and battle-worn after all of the hostile encounters we had endured. So, naturally, we were all more than happy to follow Lanacai through the door on the right side of the room, hoping that upon going through it, we would be one step closer to a good night's sleep.

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**End of chapter 4. The next chapter will probably be shorter than this one, but I'm not sure yet. Still trying to work out what happens in which chapter and all that, so for all I know, it could end up longer like this one.**

**Hope you're enjoying yourselves so far, and I'll see you next chapter! :)  
**


	5. Bold Heroics

**Welcome to chapter 5! :D Thanks for sticking with me for this long, lol. I hope you're all enjoying the fic so far! This is a fairly actiony chapter, so I hope you all like it.**

**Chapter Warnings: None.**

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When we went through the door, we found ourselves back outside on the mountaintop, snow beginning to gently fall from the clouds above. It had gotten quite dark outside, though luckily for us, there was still just enough light for us to see by. The air had grown bitterly cold, and I shivered in my boots. Ferelden was so much colder than my beloved Antiva… and I wasn't sure I liked it. Much to our dismay, we soon noticed that we were right back at the beginning of the Gauntlet. I only managed to notice this when I happened to look to our left and saw the weathered, metal door we had gone through earlier, before our meeting the Guardian. If we were back on this path, then that meant…

We heard a low growl that seemed to be uncomfortably close and I followed the others' gazes back to the dragon's nest we had snuck past earlier. If the dragon had been asleep then, it certainly wasn't now. Though it was still lying down in its nest, its head was held high at the end of its long, snakelike neck, its beastly, yellow eyes flashing briefly when the light hit them a certain way upon a turn of the dragon's head.

"Oh, great," whispered Alistair warily, his gaze still glued to the dragon that, luckily, hadn't noticed our presence yet. "It looks like naptime is over…"

Lanacai looked around quickly for the quickest route across to the safety of the ancient ruins where Brother Genitivi was searching for more of the structure's hidden secrets, his eyes squinting in the darkness as he tried seeing better in the darkening atmosphere. Finally, he turned to Alistair and began whispering to him, though loud enough for me to hear.

"The dragon hasn't spotted us yet, which means we still have a chance of getting out of here in one piece," he said. "If we are _very_ quiet, we can use the shadows to our advantage and sneak over to that door unnoticed." He briefly pointed out the door a hundred yards or so away that led back into the ruins.

"If I may, Lanacai," I began quietly, waiting for the Warden to turn his gaze toward me. "I am not wearing clunky, heavy armor like you and Alistair. Out of all of us here, I believe I am the quietest when walking. If you wish, I can scout ahead and signal you when it is safe to move, like so." I made a certain gesture with my left hand. "If I see that the dragon is looking our way, I will signal you to stop by raising my hand like this." I made the second gesture. "Does that sound like a fair enough plan to you, Warden?"

Lanacai considered it momentarily before nodding slightly in agreement. "Yes, I think that will do just fine. Just be careful, Zevran."

"That shouldn't be a problem." I grinned confidently at him before turning my gaze toward the dragon some distance away and crouching low to the ground. When I was certain it was looking the other way (if I couldn't see its flashy eyes, I knew it wasn't looking in my direction), I quietly began creeping forward. I took care to move quickly enough but quietly enough to move by the dragon without it noticing me. As soon as I saw the dragon turn its head even a little bit, I paused. It wasn't looking in my direction, but I knew that it could have and that my stopping was a good idea. When the dragon was again looking away, I motioned for the others to come forward and meet me. Lanacai nodded and started walking toward me slowly, the others following close behind him at an equal pace. Unlike me, Lanacai and Alistair needed to try harder to be quiet, due to the heavy nature of their armor (their boots, in particular). They were doing well so far, though, so I had to give them some credit for that.

The process of me scouting ahead and the others following once the coast was clear worked pretty well… until suddenly, I saw the dragon beginning to look in our direction. I quickly signalled for everyone to stop moving, and they did. Unfortunately, Alistair's sudden stop caused his boot to scuff across the rock underfoot and dislodge a small stone from its place in a tiny crevice. The stone began to tumble downhill, making a noise that I knew shouldn't have been as loud as it was. However, because of the snowy, night air being so very still, the sound had somehow been amplified beyond its normal volume. My heart stopped when the sound caught the dragon's attention and the beast looked right at us, finally spotting us once it bothered to focus its eyes in the darkness. It growled and got to its feet, spreading its wings and roaring deafeningly.

"_Run!_" yelled Lanacai. There was no use in trying to be quiet now that the dragon knew we were there. We sprinted at breakneck speed toward the door and even though I didn't look, I could tell that the dragon was coming after us when I heard and felt the gust of wind caused by its wings as it took to the air. I heard Ripper barking loudly behind me and he soon ran right past me. He turned and snarled, barking loudly at the dragon as it circled overhead and waited for the opportune moment to strike out at us. I heard a shriek behind me and turned, eyes widening when I saw that Leliana had tripped and fallen.

"Leliana!" roared Lanacai, about to turn and help her to her feet.

"Go, Warden!" I yelled, ignoring Alistair and Morrigan as they ran past me to join Ripper by the door. I heard the metal door open and I knew they had entered the relative safety of the ruins. "I will get her; you go with the others!"

"And leave you two out here alone with that thing about to swoop down at any moment for its next meal?" Lanacai snarled. "I don't think so!" He took another step toward Leliana but faltered and drew back somewhat when the dragon released yet another deafening roar. I glanced up and cursed at how ready the beast seemed to charge right at us.

"Just go, Lanacai," I ordered firmly, glaring at him to show him that I was nothing but serious. "I can run faster than you right now, as I am wearing only light armor; I'll be right behind you." I turned and ran back to Leliana before Lanacai could protest more, and I knelt by her side.

"Are you able to stand on your own?" I asked her, looking up again to make sure the dragon wasn't already diving through the air toward us. It had seemed to focus more on Lanacai once he had begun his run back to the door and much to my dismay, it dove right toward him. Luckily, Lanacai was through the door before the dragon could even get close and I heard a bizarre hissing sound escape the dragon as it hovered in one place in the air, obviously not liking the fact that one of its appetizers had gotten away.

"I think I twisted my ankle when I fell," I heard Leliana say a few moments later, sounding like she was genuinely in pain. "I'm not sure I can make it on my own."

I didn't need any further confirmation than that. I hoisted Leliana up into my arms and she wrapped her arms around my neck so she felt more confident that I wouldn't drop her. I needed to change my plan, since the dragon had now landed near the door and was attempting to stick its head through and grab one of the others between its hungry jaws. I obviously couldn't run past it, so I came up with a better idea. It was risky, but it had to work.

"Lanacai!" I yelled, waiting for confirmation from the Warden that he had heard me.

"Yeah?" I heard him call back before swearing loudly. I could only assume that the dragon's jaws had come too close to him for comfort in that split second.

"I have an idea! See those two large rocks over there? I am going to rest Leliana behind those boulders, and then I'll try distracting the dragon. Once the dragon's attention is off of you, run and get Leliana and bring her into the ruins to safety!"

"Are you nuts?!" It was Alistair's voice that came this time. "You'll get eaten alive!"

"If that happens, I die and my debt to you is paid. What do you say, Lanacai?"

"You're completely insane," Lanacai yelled to me, "but your plan just might work. I'm ready when you are, but in the name of Thedas, Zevran, be careful!"

"Alright!" I mumbled to Leliana that everything would be alright as I ran her over to the large boulders I had pointed out before, gently setting her down behind them and out of the dragon's view. "Stay here, alright. Don't make a sound." When she agreed to do as I asked, I stood up and ran out quite recklessly into the open. I found a good-sized rock on the ground and picked it up, testing its weight by tossing it up once in my hand before throwing it as hard as I could at the dragon. It hit the beast right in the hindquarters and it snarled viciously before whipping its head around to stare right at me, those eyes blazing with unmasked fury. Apparently, it saw me as an easier target than Lanacai and the others, so it turned its body around and began lumbering toward me surprisingly quickly, its former target forgotten.

_That's it,_ I thought while backing away, smirking tightly. _Come get me, you big, ugly bastard._ I was either very brave, or very stupid. I didn't quite know which, myself. All I knew was that as soon as I saw the dragon open its mouth wide and a yellowish-red glow began forming at the back of its throat, it was time for me to find some sort of cover to avoid getting burnt to a crisp. I looked around quickly and saw that very close to me, there was a lower ledge that I could easily drop down onto and duck down in order to avoid the dragon's flames. Taking my chances, I dove toward the ledge and grabbed the edge of it with my hand, dropping onto the lower outcropping of rock and ducking down with my hands over my head as moments later, the flames shot right over me. They had been very close to touching me, and I had felt the searing heat as it blew over me by mere inches.

It occurred to me then that there was really no way for me to get to the door where the others were waiting for me without having to go through the dragon first. The dragon was directly between the door and myself, and I really did not feel up to battling my way to the one exit. But, then again… perhaps I wouldn't have to. A very risky idea struck me then, and I couldn't help but grin at the sheer brilliance (and stupidity) of it. Staying low to the ground, I reached into my small pack of belongings and pulled out a long length of rope. Quickly, I looped one end into a functional noose and tugged at it sharply to make sure that it wouldn't snap or come loose. When the knot held, I nodded with satisfaction and gripped the rope firmly with one hand. If this plan didn't work, the worst that could happen would be me becoming food for a hungry dragon. The thought made me laugh. Maybe if I didn't taste good, the dragon would spit me out. I could only hope.

When I was ready, I poked my head up over the ledge and waved one hand over my head to get the beast's attention.

"Come and get me, you overgrown lizard!" I yelled tauntingly. "I'm right here!" The dragon didn't need to be asked twice; it ran toward me with a loud roar and without hesitation, its jaws opened ready and ready to snap me up. _Wait for it… Wait for it…_

The dragon lunged. I feinted to the side, my makeshift noose opened wide enough to fit around the creature's mouth. _Now!_ Before the dragon had the chance to pull its head back and lunge again, I tossed the rope at its snout and pulled sharply on the other end. The noose tightened around the scaly snout and snapped the dragon's mouth shut rather loudly. I kept a firm hold on the rope, knowing that the harder the dragon struggled, the tighter the noose would become. I jumped up onto the higher ledge, keeping a tight grip on the rope as I jumped up onto the back of the thrashing dragon's neck and held on tightly so I wouldn't get thrown off. I needed to tie the other end of the rope to the noose as well if I wanted my plan to work.

But, of course, my task couldn't be an easy one. The dragon was furious as well as panicked due to the predicament that it was in, and it was willing to try everything in its power that it could to throw me off. I clung tighter to its scaly neck when suddenly the dragon dove right off the ledge and plummeted through the icy air. The wind whipping me was freezing, but I refused to let go. When the dragon realized that its first tactic had failed, it quickly spread its wings with a loud snapping sound and sharply angled itself upwards before turning itself completely upside-down, trying to make me lose my grip. Luckily for me, I still had the rope to hang onto, and the way the dragon righted itself had me hanging over the other side of its neck… the side I needed to be on.

I smirked and somehow, I managed to successfully tie the other end of the rope to the noose already around the dragon's snout, despite my freezing hands. I could only assume that it was the adrenaline pumping through me that allowed me to effectively tie the final knot. It took a little longer than I would have liked, though, because I had to pause a few times to swing myself back up onto the dragon's neck and hold on tightly so I wouldn't fall to my death on the rocks below. Once it was safe to continue, though, I managed to finish my task, and I gave a firm tug on the rope to test its strength, pleased that the knot held fast without a problem.

I kept a firm hold on the rope with both hands as I swung myself back up onto the dragon's neck. I had to steer the dragon back toward the ruins somehow, and I hoped I could use the rope to do just that. I sharply tugged the rope to the right and shifted all of my weight that way as well. With an angry snarl, the dragon was made to fly in that direction. It again tried to throw me off, but I had a firm grip on the "reins" with both hands and I wasn't going anywhere. When the dragon was right over the mountaintop, I leaned forward more and slightly to the right to make the dragon angle toward the ground a bit before swinging myself to one side of its neck and holding up my full body weight with one side of the rope. If I timed my jump just right, I would be able to swing right to the door and to safety.

As soon as I was sure I would make it, and just as the dragon was about to pass by the door, I swung myself forward with a swing of my legs and let go of the rope. To soften my fall when I landed, I tucked my body into a ball and used my arms as a sort of springboard, rolling forward through the door to safety. As soon as I was through, I heard Lanacai yell an order to Alistair and the metal door was slammed right behind me. I could scarcely believe it; my hairbrained plan had actually _worked_.

I remained on my back on the stone ground for a while, trying to catch my breath after such an exhilerating experience. I could still feel the adrenaline pulsing through my body, and in spite of the fact that I could still barely breathe, I started laughing.

"What in the name of Thedas is so funny?" Lanacai demanded, clearly very displeased with my acting so recklessly. "You could have been killed out there, and you're _laughing!_"

Still chuckling a bit, I sat up slowly and grinned up at the furious Warden, feeling elated. I was a little sore, of course, and cold, but I didn't care very much. I was too happy to care.

"That was a rather heroic feat, wasn't it? As terrifying as it was, it was quite invigorating."

"And idiotic," grumbled Lanacai bluntly. "Let's not forget that one."

"Fair enough… but all the same. How many people do you know who have ridden on the back of a mighty High Dragon and lived to tell the tale?

"None, but—"

"Precisely. Now you see how miraculous it is that I am talking to you right now." I saw Lanacai's mouth open as he was about to put another few choice words in, but then he reconsidered what he was about to say and smiled somewhat at me. I saw a trace of relief in that smile.

"Alright, you win. It _is_ impressive." He sighed. "Your luck amazes me, Zevran… It truly does."

"As it should," I boasted, getting to my feet and dusting myself off. "Now then, let us go tell Brother Genitivi of the Urn. Shall we? It is quite dark outside, and I would rather like to hurry and wrap things up here so we can set up camp somewhere and get some sleep."

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**End of chapter 5. See you next chapter! :D R&R!!!  
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	6. Tension

**Enjoy chapter 6! ^_^**

**Chapter Warnings: Non-descriptive masturbation... Yeah.**

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After we met up with Brother Genitivi again and Leliana told him her suggestion that those faithful in Andraste be allowed to come to the ruins and test their faith for a pinch of the ashes, we started making our way back down the mountain. The way back down was easier than our trek up, but at the same time, it was more difficult (and slower) because Leliana couldn't walk on her own with a hurt ankle. However, that certainly didn't stop her from trying. Whenever Lanacai, Alistair, or myself offered to help her, she would simply smile and tell us that she could handle it, all the while limping after us. If her words held any sort of truth in them, it was drowned not only by the fact that she was limping to begin with, but also by the occasional inhale of hissing pain that managed to escape her every once in a while. I watched, amused, as Alistair appeared to have had enough of Leliana's stubbornness and took the liberty of lifting her into his arms despite her protests and carrying her the rest of the way.

A mile or so away from the mountain was where we decided to set up camp for the night. It would be a couple of days before we were completely out of the mountains, though there were still small wooded areas in which we could camp, and it was in one of these areas that we finally decided to settle down for the night and set up camp. The air was not as cold here as it had been in Haven or on the mountaintop, and the heat of the fire, once it was built, was enough to keep us comfortably warm.

Once the camp was ready, I walked over to Lanacai and alerted him that I would be in the nearby river bathing should he need anything, and I was certain he heard the suggestive tone in my voice because a very faint blush tinted his cheeks in the light of the campfire. After he told me to stay on my guard just in case there were enemies nearby, I agreed to do so and turned, making my way into the woods. I could only hope that a nice bath would be able to soothe my sore muscles… and as accustomed as I was to being covered from head to toe in other men's blood, I knew washing it all away would feel quite nice.

Upon arriving at the river, I stripped out of my armor and other garments and climbed into the cool water. It wasn't a numbing cold, but it was certainly enough to make me shiver until my body had become accustomed to the temperature. I spent about twenty minutes in the river, and once, I could have sworn I heard a rustling in the bushes, but it was gone minutes later. Had someone been watching me? I couldn't be entirely sure of that, however, so I quickly dismissed it as being some sort of animal passing through. I _was_ in the woods, after all. There were little critters everywhere.

When I was satisfied that I was clean enough and felt a certain amount of relief in my sore muscles, I got out of the river and shook the water out of my hair, a small shiver going through me as the crisp air touched my wet skin. Without bothering to dry off, I put my pants and boots back on. When I returned to camp, I would put some clean clothes on, but right now, it was the best I could do. I had no qualms about returning to camp naked, of course, but I figured it wouldn't be in my best interest, so I refrained from doing so. Gathering up my armor and other possessions, I started on my way back to camp, idly wondering if everyone was already asleep. It had been a very long, very eventful day, after all.

As I trekked through the woods, my mind wandered back to when I had seen Lanacai in nothing but his smallclothes in the Gauntlet. From what I had seen, he was quite well-endowed… and the thought of it brought me to lick my lips. Those images were forever burned into my memory, and I knew that if I didn't have Lanacai soon, I would go absolutely crazy. Oh, yes. I was lusting, and I was lusting _bad_. What I wouldn't _give_ to know what other things that strong, gorgeous body was capable of…

My pleasant thoughts were interrupted by the nearby sound of barking and also the sound of breaking twigs. I stopped walking and moments later, Ripper came tearing out of the brush, in hot pursuit of what appeared to be a large rabbit that had run by me moments earlier. The large mabari leaped at the rabbit and the poor, unfortunate creature was soon dangling from those powerful jaws. I chuckled when Ripper turned toward me and began wagging his tail, and I lightly pet the dog's mighty head. I barely had to stoop down at all to do so; the dog's head was already less than two inches away from being level with my shoulder.

"My furry friend, does your master know you are all the way out here?" I questioned, raising an eyebrow at him.

Ripper whimpered regretfully in response to my question, and I sighed.

"Come on, then; we'll head back together. I'm sure Lanacai wouldn't be too pleased if I simply let you wander off on your own."

Another pitiful whimper; I smiled. "Just don't do it again, unless you let Lanacai know you are going to wander." And at that, Ripper's tail began wagging again, and we proceeded to walk back to camp together. As used to loneliness as I was, it felt nice to have some sort of company… even it _was _only a dog.

I pushed my way through the brush into our sheltered campground a short while later, stretching languidly as I sauntered over to the campfire. I took a seat on a nearby stump and sighed happily as the heat of the flames warmed me. Once I was dry, I would go to my tent and change into some clean clothes, I decided. Alistair, Leliana, and Morrigan had all fallen asleep outside, having been too exhausted to find their way back to their respective tents in time, and Ripper was laying calmly by the fire with me, quite content as he chewed on the rabbit he had caught in the woods. It didn't take me very long to notice that one of our party was missing, however: our fearless leader, Lanacai.

Curious, I took one more glance around the camp, checking to see if I had merely missed him somehow, but he was nowhere to be seen. _Perhaps he is in his tent?_ I thought, glancing over at the tent in question as I did. Well, what harm was there in paying him a visit? He was a friend, after all. An ally. That, and I didn't exactly have anything better to do. If I peeked into the tent and found that he was asleep like the others, I would, of course, leave him be. If he wasn't, perhaps I could again attempt having a heart-to-heart conversation with him. However, I wouldn't know if he was asleep until I checked, so I got to my feet and made my way over to his tent. As I drew near, I could hear the faint sound of what appeared to be soft, subdued grunts and gasps from inside. Raising an eyebrow and now thoroughly curious as to what was going on in that tent (the effort to push the dirtier possibilities aside was quite difficult for me), I carefully pushed the tent flap open and peeked inside.

Lanacai was sitting on a wolf-pelt blanket that I supposed he used as a means of sleeping more comfortably in an outdoor setting, completely bare from the waist, up. I found my gaze wandering appreciatively over his sculpted torso. Other than a few faint scars from battles past that could be seen here and there, Lanacai's body was absolutely perfect. It wasn't long before I saw the angry wound at his shoulder that was steadily dripping blood down the Warden's pale skin, and I remembered he had gotten it in Haven when one of the villagers had hidden themselves and shot an arrow at him from their cover. Unfortunately, they had not missed their mark, and because of this, yet another scar would be added to the ones Lanacai already possessed. The Warden was trying to sew the skin back together with a curved needle and some thread, a small bowl of water near him that without a doubt contained some boiled water to sterilize the needle with. Each time Lanacai tried sewing the two edges of the wound together, he would wince heavily and promptly stop, cursing himself under his breath all the while. Forgetting myself, I chuckled quietly and the sound caused Lanacai to jump somewhat. He hadn't been aware of my watching him.

"Maker, Zevran, you startled me," he stated with a pained smile. "You might have made yourself known sooner…"

"My apologies, Warden," I said with a small smirk, entering the tent and letting the flap close behind me. "It appears that you need some assistance with nursing your wound… I would be more than happy to assist you, if you would let me."

Lanacai seemed puzzled as to why I would want to help him, but he nodded slightly and handed the needle and thread over to me. "Be my guest. I never was one for sewing up my own wounds. Whenever I try, I just freeze up. The idea of threading a needle into my own skin just disturbs me, I suppose."

"Yes, well, that is understandable," I decided, dipping the curved needle into the bowl of water to clean it. "I am not a big fan of doing it myself, either, though when I was with the Crows, it was often necessary to do so." I removed the needle from the bowl of water and rested one hand near Lanacai's wound to keep him still. I could feel him go somewhat tense under my touch, but I paid it no mind as I brought the needle closer to his wound.

"The key is not to look at the needle while I'm doing this. If you can, distract yourself somehow. If you're not focusing solely on the pain, it will hurt much less."

"Does it matter what I do, as long as it distracts me sufficiently?" he asked me, his tone completely serious. I shook my head in response and carefully began threading the needle into his skin, hearing the Warden hiss in pain as I did. I tried being as gentle as possible, though there was only a small degree to which I could succeed in doing so when I was sticking a sharp object repeatedly into Lanacai's living flesh. I could feel Lanacai's gaze boring into me, but I didn't look up. Right now, taking care of his wound was the important thing.

A few minutes later, I finished sewing up Lanacai's wound and I put the bloody needle into the bowl of water, smiling at him. "There; I have done what I can. Now all that is left to do is wait for it to heal."

Lanacai's voice came out a bit strained, no doubt due to the pain he had experienced during the whole ordeal. "Right… Thank you, Zevran. I appreciate your help."

"It was nothing, my friend. So, how did you choose to distract yourself from the pain?" I resisted the urge to grin when I saw a very faint, pink hue tinge Lanacai's high cheekbones, but I said nothing about the matter, merely waiting for him to answer me.

"I was… looking at you," he answered a few moments later, an adorable air of awkwardness surrounding him then. So, I had not imagined that feeling of him watching me, after all.

"Am I so fascinating to you? My dear Warden, I am flattered," I said somewhat teasingly, a coy smirk playing around the corners of my mouth. "Or… is your reasoning something entirely different?"

"Well, more specifically, I was looking at your tattoo. I have never seen one quite like it." He hesitated momentarily before lightly tracing his fingertips along the path of my tattoo, beginning just above the arch of my left eyebrow and continuing all the way down past my cheekbone to my jawline. For whatever reason, my skin felt like it was tingling faintly in response to his touch. "Is there any significance behind it?"

Of all things he could have looked at (my naked torso, for instance), he had picked my _tattoo_ to distract himself with? Well, that was somewhat disappointing… Nonetheless, I decided to answer his question.

"Among the Antivan Crows, there are certain tattoos that are significant to one's skills or rank," I explained. "I am not permitted to tell anyone outside of the Crows what they mean, however… I am sorry."

Lanacai's eyebrows rose with interest at my words and he eyed my tattoo thoughtfully once more. "Fascinating. I never would have guessed that such a simple tattoo could have such a deep meaning that you are not even permitted to speak of it to anyone."

"Granted, not all Antivan tattoos have such deep meaning behind them. Some are purely for aesthetic purposes… for looks, if you will. More often than not, though, an Antivan Crow has at least one tattoo that is unique only to the Crows." It took me until that moment to realize just how close Lanacai and I were in proximity to each other. I was so close that I could see barely-visible freckles here and there on his body that I wouldn't have been able to see from any further away. The bright blue of his eyes was also much more visible at such a close range. From a distance, they looked like they were a solid, sky-blue color… but now I could see that there was the faintest ring of gray around each pupil, giving them an almost hypnotizing quality. I had never seen eyes quite like them, and much to my surprise, I was captivated by them. They were eyes that almost seemed like they could look deep into my soul, and the thought was slightly disturbing to me… though also somewhat invigorating. Something about those eyes sent a small tremor of excitement through my entire body that was nearly impossible to suppress, and I soon found my gaze trailing down Lanacai's admittedly gorgeous body, making a mental map of that broad expanse of muscle, as well as every scar that marred it. The atmosphere in the tent had grown somewhat thick and heavy… and I wasn't entirely sure that it was a bad thing. It was an atmosphere that I, myself, knew very well… an atmosphere full of obvious, sexual tension.

As sure as I was that he would deny it if I asked, I was positive that Lanacai wanted me. Just like before when I was stitching his wound for him, I could feel his gaze boring into me, though this time, I could tell it was my body he was looking at, not my tattoo. I turned my own gaze upward then to meet his, only to feel our lips accidentally brush together. Had he really been so close to me that such a small movement caused our lips to meet? The feather-light touch was like a bolt of lightning to my nervous system, setting the very blood in my veins ablaze with the searing heat of lust. The brief touch of lips seemed to shock Lanacai in another way entirely, however… and he quickly drew away from me, a faint blush upon his cheeks again.

"I'm sorry, Zevran," he mumbled apologetically to me, moving a comfortable distance away from me. He couldn't even look me in the eye. "But… perhaps it would be best if we get some sleep. It will be dawn in only a few hours' time, and we need all the energy we can get for the journey to Redcliffe in the morning."

Well, that was disappointing. Even though I knew better than to speak against Lanacai's wishes, I decided that there would be no harm in subtly enticing him a little bit. I grinned coyly, my eyes smoldering as I stared at him closely.

"I can think of a few other things that I would rather do than sleep… but very well. If you need me for anything, I will be in my tent. Goodnight, my dear Warden." I made my way somewhat slowly back to the tent flap, glancing briefly over my shoulder at the flustered man to send him a suggestive wink before taking my leave and heading to my own tent. My entire body still felt like it was on fire from that tiny little touch of lips that Lanacai and myself had shared, and I immediately knew what I would be doing once I was within the confines of my tent: taking care of the already substantial problem between my legs, of course! If Lanacai wasn't willing to take care of it for me, I really didn't have much of a choice. I couldn't very well attempt sleeping while I was still unsatisfied, could I? As soon as I was inside of my tent, I removed my pants and smallclothes and lay down on my bedroll, proceeding to take care of my "problem" while thinking of what had just happened with Lanacai. I groaned quietly and tilted my head back, closing my eyes with a smile. That man was nothing short of a god in human form… and I didn't know how, but someday soon, I _would_ get him into my tent, and I would show him _exactly_ what he was missing out on. _Look out, Warden,_ I thought. _You have no idea what you're in for._

**------------**

**Ohhh, boy... Lanacai's in trouble. xD He's gonna have one horny elf after his arse for _weeks!_ *ahem* Anywho... R&R, and see you next chapter! :D**_  
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	7. Sore Loser

**Yay, chapter 7! :D This one took me a while, but I'm rather proud of it. Zev and Lanacai get some more bonding time, hehe. x3 Enjoy!**

**Chapter Warnings: Sexual references, but nothing too major.**

It was several days before we finally reached Redcliffe, more than enough time for me to poke and prod Lanacai with subtle hints of seduction. While we were walking, I would remain by his side for extended periods of time, purposely bumping his side occasionally with my arm. Whenever this happened, I would apologize and walk a little ahead of him instead, adding a little extra sway to my hips as well to hopefully entice him further. Since I was not graced with an extra pair of eyes on the back of my head when I was born, I would not know my actions' effect on him until that night, if I was lucky. And so far, those few times over the last several days had been nothing but failures.

At one point, when we were only a mile from Redcliffe, I was surprised when Morrigan pulled me aside to speak with her as we proceeded onward, walking behind the others now so that we would be able to talk in simulated privacy (as though being looked at affected how well one could hear our conversation).

"What is it?" I questioned, smiling at the dark-haired witch with as much politeness as I could muster. There was something that appeared to be amusement in her eyes and in the slight quirk of her lips, and instantly, I knew what she was about to say.

"You appear to be quite set on getting the Warden's attention," she observed without missing a beat, validating my suspicions. She was either incredibly bright, more so than I had given her credit for, or I was just being far too obvious.

"What makes you bring up such a thing, I wonder?" I questioned, not giving her a direct affirmation to her observation. "Perhaps you are… jealous?" I smirked inwardly to myself. If anything could get under Morrigan's skin, that was most certainly it.

"_Jealous?_ Hardly. I must say, though, your attempts at seducing him are very obvious and very bold," she stated, barely revealing her teeth as she smiled wider. "Tell me, what makes you think he will play into your little game? He is a Grey Warden; he has more important things on his mind than bedding an assassin who, I might add, tried to kill him."

"You wound me with your cruel words, Morrigan," I said, clasping both hands over my heart in mock hurt. "Now then, if it is not mere jealousy that caused you to bring this up in conversation, I suggest you leave me to my devices." I grinned. "My actions are harming no one, and I should be allowed to do as I please." Just as she opened her mouth to say something else, I held up my hand to silence her. "I have told you all that I will, and I will answer nothing further." Nodding my head to her, I promptly scouted ahead of her, leaving her in a stunned silence. What right did she have to tell me what I could and could not do? None whatsoever.

We arrived in Redcliffe a short time after my conversation with Morrigan, and as I expected, we headed directly to the castle. The castle was large, of course, but it did not impress me much. There were large palaces in Antiva City as well, and they were far more beautiful than these bland, grey keeps scattered throughout Ferelden. Immediately upon entering the castle, Lanacai told the guard keeping watch over the stairs leading up to the upper floors of the castle that we had found Andraste's ashes and were there to revive him. Without a word, the guard immediately stood aside, and we ascended the stone steps to the arl's room.

"You're back!" exclaimed a decent-looking, ginger-haired male of approximately thirty-five with a kind face and anxious eyes. "What news do you bring? Did you find the Urn of Sacred Ashes?"

"We did," Lanacai answered with a smile, holding up the small pouch containing the pinch of ashes. "It was not an easy feat, but we accomplished it nonetheless." He handed the pouch to the unfamiliar man, his expression becoming a serious one. "How is he, Teagan?"

The man known as Teagan sighed and looked down at the older, white-bearded gentleman on the bed who appeared to be completely unresponsive and unaware of our presence, frowning with obvious concern.

"He is still comatose," he replied, "but alive, nonetheless. My brother was never one to give up easily, no matter the circumstances. Now then, let us see if that legend about the Urn was true, shall we?"

Teagan carefully administered the ashes to Arl Eamon and we all waited for several minutes, anxiously awaiting some sort of response from the older man. Finally, just as Teagan was about to declare the legend of Andraste's ashes as being false, there was sharp inhale of breath from his brother and Eamon's eyes slowly opened.

"Unh… what…?" he mumbled, glancing around with obvious confusion. "Where am I…? What's going on…?" When he tried sitting up, Teagan set his hands on Eamon's shoulders and carefully lay him back down.

"Easy, brother," said Teagan with a relieved smile. "You are home, in your own bed. You had us all worried, Eamon. We feared that you weren't going to make it."

"What do you mean?" Eamon questioned, brow furrowing as he looked up at his younger brother. "My wife… Where is Isolde?"

"Here, my husband," replied the thickly-accented voice of the beautiful young woman who had been in the room when we arrived. She quickly moved closer to her husband's side, kneeling near the bed and gently clasping one of his hands between her own. She bit her lower lip softly, smiling but clearly trying to hold back tears. "Thank the Maker you are alright."

"Isolde… where is our son? Where is Connor?" I recognized that name from something Lanacai had told me days ago, and upon looking at him, I saw a brief flicker of pain pass over his face. Connor was the boy whom he had been forced to kill because the poor child had become an abomination.

Isolde hesitated, taking in a shaky breath and allowing a few tears to escape. "Connor is… He is dead, Eamon." She choked back a quiet sob. "He is dead."

"Dead?" Eamon repeated with disbelief, seeming unable to believe that this was, in fact, the truth. "But… how? Oh, my poor boy… How did this happen?" He listened as Teagan and Isolde explained everything to him, and all I could do was listen as well while Lanacai and Alistair occasionally put in a few words of explanation for the arl.

At the end of the explanation, Eamon closed his eyes and his brows knitted together with grief. "An abomination…" He sighed. "I suppose his death is easier for me to accept than if he had lived and remained an abomination… May he rest in peace in the Maker's kingdom." Ignoring Teagan's insisting that he lay down and rest, Eamon sat up and swung his legs over the side of the bed, his hands on his knees as he looked at all of us and finally noticed Alistair. His eyes widened, and a small smile crossed his lips.

"Alistair… is that you?" he questioned. "By the Maker, it has been a long time."

Alistair smiled ruefully, nodding. "Yes, it has. It is good to see that you are well, Eamon. I certainly never expected to see you again, especially now that I am a Grey Warden."

"A Grey Warden, you say?" Eamon's expression suddenly became quite serious. "What business could the Wardens possibly have here in Redcliffe?"

"Another Blight is upon us," Alistair replied, frowning. "All of the Ferelden Wardens were slain at Ostagar weeks ago, and now it is up to us to put an end to it. We came here in the hopes that you would be able to assist us in the coming battle against the Archdemon."

"I see…" Eamon pinched the bridge of his nose between his thumb and forefinger, closing his eyes. "I am sorry, Alistair, but we will have to continue this conversation later. I am still feeling rather weak, and I would prefer speaking with you when I am well. Come back later this afternoon, and we shall resume."

"Right," Alistair agreed, smiling a bit. "Rest up; get your strength back."

"We will remain here until you awaken, Arl Eamon," added Lanacai, unable to look the man in the eye. Who could blame him? He was the one who had killed Eamon's son Connor; how could he look the boy's father in the eye without discomfort after something as dire as that?

"And who are you?" Eamon asked him, smiling wearily at him. "Yours is not a face I am familiar with."

"Lanacai Cousland, youngest son of Teyrn Bryce Cousland of Highever. It is a pleasure to meet you, Arl Eamon."

"Cousland, you say? Your father is a good friend of mine; always has been." Eamon smiled kindly at Lanacai. "You look so much like him when he was your age. I really should try contacting him one of these days to catch up on all the years we have missed."

"My father is dead," Lanacai muttered, his brow furrowed as terrible memories were once again brought to the surface. "As is my mother… and my brother's family, as well. All murdered."

"_Murdered?_" The news seemed to shock Eamon, who frowned apologetically at Lanacai. "How did this happen?"

I saw Lanacai's jaw tighten and his hands clenched into fists at his sides. He swallowed heavily, and immediately, I felt sorry for him. I could not imagine how hard it must have been for him to once again delve into the painful memory to give Eamon the answers he desired. Finally, Lanacai spoke.

"Arl Howe betrayed us. His forces stormed our home in the dead of night, and we were powerless to stop them. My father was mortally wounded, and my mother stayed with him to give me time to escape with Duncan."

Pity filled Eamon's eyes and he bowed his head in respect to the memory of Lanacai's family. "I am terribly sorry for your loss, Lanacai."

"Thank you. And… I am sorry for what happened to Connor. Had I had any other option, he would still be alive now. I—"

"I know," Eamon interrupted, smiling sadly at Lanacai. "Please… there is no need for apologies. What has been done is done, and that is that." He sighed and lay back down on his bed, clasping his hands across his stomach and closing his eyes. "Now then, I should get some rest so that I can recover. The sooner I do so, the sooner we may speak of the Blight."

Lanacai agreed, and very soon, all of us, with the exception of the arlessa, had left Eamon's quarters to let him sleep. Teagan turned to face all of us, a smile upon his lips.

"Thank you, all of you, for everything you have done. Had it not been for you, my brother would still be comatose." He clapped Lanacai on the shoulder in a brotherly fashion. "For your deeds, I am most grateful."

"There is really no need to thank us, Teagan," said Lanacai, smiling faintly and resting a hand on Teagan's shoulder as well. "Ensuring the arl's full recovery from Jowan's poison is the least we can do, in exchange for his assistance in the upcoming battle against the Archdemon."

"Ah, yes. There is that." Teagan sighed and removed his hand from Lanacai's shoulder, standing tall and proud as he looked at all of us in turn. His gaze lingered momentarily on me. "Here is someone I don't recognize… He wasn't here with you last time you were here, was he?"

I responded before Lanacai could answer for me. I didn't much like when people decided they could answer questions for me. I was quite capable of doing so on my own.

"No, I was not. The Wardens picked me up on their travels on their way to find the Urn. My name is Zevran," I said, introducing myself and bowing my head politely to him for a moment.

"I see. Well, it is nice to meet you, Zevran, and I hope you enjoy it here in Redcliffe as long as you all remain here," Teagan greeted, smiling at me before looking at Lanacai once more. "Feel free to wander around a bit while you wait for Eamon to recover. Once Eamon has awakened, I will send for you immediately so we may discuss future plans in regard to the Blight."

All Lanacai did was mutter a thank you before walking past Teagan and making his way down the hallway. If I didn't know better, I would say that he looked very upset… and what sort of companion would I be had I not decided to go after him? I followed Lanacai quietly, not wanting him to know that I was tailing him right away. I was curious to see what he was going to do, first.

I followed him out to the castle courtyard, where he stopped near some training dummies and drew his sword. Mere moments later, he began hacking and slashing away at the dummy, bits and pieces of wood and cloth flying from the force of his assault. I smiled faintly and crossed my arms, leaning back against the castle wall to watch him. I would have needed to be blind to not see that this was Lanacai's way of venting his anger toward Arl Howe. In my opinion, it was an effective method, indeed. Besides drinking oneself under the table, what better way was there to vent anger than invisioning the face of one's most loathed enemy on a training dummy and beating the stuffing out of it? I could think of none.

Lanacai hacked at the training dummy for quite a while, and it wasn't much longer until the dummy's head went flying off to land in the grass somewhere nearby. I laughed lightly, and Lanacai looked over his shoulder at me. Until now, apparently, I had done a good job of staying quiet, because the look on Lanacai's face suggested that he hadn't known I was watching him that entire time. I gracefully arched off of the wall and walked over to him, hands on my hips as I examined the fresh wounds on the wood-and-cloth Arl Howe.

"I must say, Warden, if this were the _real_ Arl Howe, you would have _quite_ a mess on your hands," I stated, grinning at him. I was pleased when my words caused a little smile to light up Lanacai's previously darkened expression.

"Yes, well… he ensured that my father was turned into a bloody mess on the floor, so why should I not subject _him_ to the same fate?" His tone was bitter, and I sighed.

"Being what I am, it probably is not my place to tell you this… but revenge is never the answer, my friend. If you show Howe as much brutality as he showed toward your family, you are no better than he."

My own wisdom surprised me, so of course it surprised Lanacai, too. My words seemed to have struck a chord with him, though, and he seemed to calm down in response to them.

"Perhaps you're right… but it is hard not to wish such things on him now. That man took everything from me. _Everything_. No matter what anyone says, there will always be a part of me that wishes the worst fate imaginable to befall him. It is something that cannot be helped, I'm afraid."

"I understand," I stated with a nod. "I have met Arl Howe myself, and right from the start when he hired me to kill you and Alistair, I did not like the man. Still, when the prospect of earning a lot of gold struck me, I accepted my task without protest."

I smirked. "Now that I am no longer working for he and Loghain, however, I will be more than happy to assist you in killing both of them when the time comes. You have my word."

Lanacai laughed. "Thank you, Zev. You have been a very useful companion to me over the last couple of weeks, and I am certain you will continue to be."

"I am glad that you think so," I said with a smile. After a few minutes of silence had passed us by, I got an idea and grinned mischievously at Lanacai. The Warden raised an eyebrow at me, obviously wondering what had caused me to smile that way, and I started to explain.

"You know, since you defeated me during our first encounter, I have often pondered if I would be able to defeat you in a rematch." I drew both of my daggers out of the sheaths strapped across my back, twirling them skillfully in my grasp and crouching into a battle position with a sly smirk. "What do you say, Warden?"

Lanacai considered my suggestion for a minute before grinning back at me and wielding his sword once more. "I say you're on. Don't expect me to go easy on you, though, even if this is only a friendly spar."

"I wasn't expecting you to go easy on me," I stated with a thoroughly amused laugh. "No, fight me as you would fight an enemy… only without the actual killing. I want to fight you, and win, fair and square."

"You seem quite confident that you will beat me."

"Is that a problem?"

"Not at all." He lunged at me with his sword moments later, grinning confidently as he struck. His attempt at inflicting the first blow, however, was clumsy at best, and I swiftly ducked out of the way, whirling around and swinging both daggers at him at once, each going in a different direction. My brow furrowed and I braced myself as Lanacai suddenly swung his sword up vertically to catch my daggers in the middle of their path, locking them in a sort of "x" pattern, one blade on each side of Lanacai's. I laughed, my lips curling into another grin.

"Impressive, Warden," I admitted, catching him off-guard moments later and dislodging our blades when I raised one leg and kicked against his abdomen. "You're faster than I gave you credit for, considering how tall you are in comparison to myself."

"Thank you," he said, hardly fazed by my direct kick to his stomach. "And you are as fast as I would expect an elven assassin to be." I barely had time to respond to his comment before he was coming at me again and this time, he had managed to catch me off-guard. I barely managed to parry the blow from his sword, the sound of metal clashing against metal echoing loudly throughout the courtyard.

I knew not how long we sparred for, but one thing I did know was that Lanacai and I were equal in strength and stamina when we were pushed hard enough. At the end of our duel, we both collapsed to the ground and took some time to catch our breath. The sound of Lanacai's heavy breathing as he tried getting air back into his lungs was quite appealing to me, and I watched him quietly from where I lay. Unlike myself, he was sitting up with one arm draped over a bent knee, his head lowered and his shoulders rising and falling with each breath he took. A few strands of his thick, dirty-blond hair hung in front of his face, sticking to his sweaty brow. I was quite sweaty myself, but not nearly as badly as Lanacai. His armor was heavier than mine and was surely much more cumbersome and hot to fight in than my light, manageable armor, after all.

A few minutes later, I sat up and chuckled breathlessly, brushing a few sweaty strands of hair away from my own forehead and smiling at the exhausted Warden. "I think, perhaps, we have a draw… Unless, you think you can continue?"

Lanacai nodded and grabbed his sword from where he had dropped it in the grass, getting to his feet and helping me up when I accepted his unspoken offer to do so.

"I think I can go a little longer against you, Zevran," he decided, getting into a battle-ready stance and motioning for me to come at him. "The first to disarm their opponent is the victor. Fair enough?"

"Yes, I believe so," I agreed, wielding my daggers and already beginning to search for an opening. I smirked as we began to circle each other, trying to stake out each other's weaknesses. Being an assassin, I was slightly quicker in doing so than he was… so I was the one to strike first that time around. Lanacai seemed to have learned quickly, though, and was able to effectively block a good number of my attacks. _Impressive_, I thought. However, it was time to end this.

As soon as I saw Lanacai's blade coming right toward me, I swiftly dropped to the ground and kicked his legs out from under him. He had not expected me to do something like that, clearly, so he fell to the ground just as I had intended. Before he even had the chance to get back to his feet, I was on top of him, pinning him to the ground with my dagger pressed close to his neck. I was careful not to nick his flesh, however. I would not be responsible for needlessly spilling any of his blood. I tilted my head to the side as I gazed down at him, laughing lightly.

"It appears that I have gotten the better of you, my friend. You lose," I stated victoriously. "I am just slightly faster than you are, I'm afraid." What happened next, I was in no way expecting. The hand that I was not pinning to the ground shot up and grabbed my wrist, forcing my dagger-wielding hand away and within moments, Lanacai had completely flipped our positions with him straddling me and holding me down, instead. My eyes widened as I stared up at him, in shock. How had he succeeded in turning the tables on me so quickly? I was so stunned that I hadn't realized I had dropped my daggers just before he flipped me over onto my back so that I would not risk stabbing he or myself.

I found myself speechless as I looked up into those hypnotizing, blue-grey eyes of his, but then a slow grin made its way across my lips. To anyone passing by, our position would surely look like a provocative one… and I was going to milk the situation for all it was worth. I clasped my hands behind my head and bent one knee a little, appearing quite lazy and content right where I was.

"You are a naughty man, Lanacai," I said slyly, narrowing my eyes at him. "If this was what you wanted to do all along, you had only to ask at the very beginning." I was surprised when, instead of looking embarrassed in response to my statement, Lanacai smirked and started laughing.

"That isn't it at all. Do you not remember the conditions of our duel, Zev?"

I raised an eyebrow at him. "What do you mean?"

His grin broadened while mine lessened. "We agreed that the first to disarm their opponent would be the victor. Correct? Well, you never disarmed me. All you did was make me fall, but I was holding my sword the entire time."

I mentally cursed myself. He was right. Although I had pinned his sword-wielding arm to the ground, I had failed to notice whether or not he had actually dropped his weapon upon falling.

"However," he continued, "when I flipped you, you dropped your weapons to ensure that there would be no accidental stabbing. So, in a way, I disarmed you… which means, of course, that I am the victor of our duel."

For the moment, I felt like wiping that smug grin off that all-too-appealing face of his… but I knew he was right. The bastard had actually outsmarted me at my own game. I sighed and glared at him, less than pleased by the fact that I had lost to him yet again. Well, it was good to know he was finding happiness in my humiliation, at least, if that counted for anything…

"Very well," I said somewhat grudgingly a few minutes later, forcing a small smile. "Once again, you have defeated me. Bask in your victory all you wish, for I am well over it." I narrowed my eyes dangerously at him when I heard him snicker at my expense.

"You're not feeling _sore_ at me for losing, are you, Zev?" he questioned rather cockily with a smirk. "It's not as though my victory counts for anything, so why should it matter who won or lost in the end?"

"It _doesn't_ matter," I growled stubbornly. "Now, are you going to let me up… or are you so fond of this position that you would like to remain in it for a while longer?" After my rather humiliating defeat, I figured that embarrassing Lanacai in regards to our provocative position would be enough to redeem myself. This time, my efforts bore fruit and Lanacai got off of me… but not before I saw the light pink hue dance across his cheekbones. Lanacai held his hand out toward me and I took it, using it to haul myself to my feet before dusting myself off. I thanked him and smiled, lightly clapping him on the shoulder.

"In any case, I am glad I was able to help cheer you up," I stated, crossing my arms across my chest and absently cracking my neck. "Now then, is there perhaps a tavern in this village? I find that I am rather thirsty at present…"

"Yes, there is a tavern," he answered, having already willed the pink hue to fade from his features. "I'm feeling pretty thirsty myself, so I'll join you in having a drink or two."

"Most likely two."

"Definitely two."

We both laughed, and with our current destination established, we made our way out of the castle courtyard and crossed the bridge, descending the slope to the village below. There were many people scurrying about, jumping from place to place and assisting wherever repairs were needed on the buildings that I could see had sustained some damage. I raised an eyebrow in question and looked at Lanacai curiously.

"What happened here, exactly? I know that the arl had fallen ill… but why are so many buildings here damaged?" I asked.

"When we arrived here to see Arl Eamon," Lanacai began, "we were told that shortly after the arl fell ill, monsters began pouring out of the castle every night and attacking the village. Many of the villagers perished the night prior to our arrival, but on the night of our arrival, we helped the remaining villagers fight the creatures, and we won. Most of the damage to the village had already been done by the time we got here." He paused momentarily to greet a burly, dark-haired male who was hammering some nails into the side of one of the damaged homes, and I learned from Lanacai's greeting that the man's name was Murdock.

"Now that the immediate threat from the castle is gone," Lanacai continued after we had passed Murdock by, "the villagers are working to fix their homes."

"My, my… Ferelden certainly is going through a rough time, isn't it?"

"You can say that again."

"I will if you want me to." Lanacai chuckled at that and raised an eyebrow at me with obvious amusement toward my attempt at lightening the mood. I merely smiled back before turning my attention toward the path ahead, and it wasn't much longer before we arrived at the tavern.

It was a quaint little building, a typical tavern if I had ever seen one, and I rummaged about in the pouch at my waist for some silvers to pay for my drink… only to find that it was empty. I sighed and ran a hand through my hair in frustration, frowning at Lanacai.

"It would seem that I am flat broke, my friend…"

"Shame. Well, no matter… I'll buy your drink for you."

I widened my gaze with obvious surprise. "Really? Oh, but I couldn't possibly ask you to do that for me…"

"You didn't. I offered." Lanacai winked at me—I felt my heart flutter a little bit in response—and turned toward the barkeep, whom he had addressed as Lloyd. I wasn't entirely happy to allow Lanacai buy my drink for me, but I supposed if it made him happy, he could do whatever he pleased. I sighed, smiling at him.

"Very well, Warden. If that is what you wish to do, I won't stop you."

"Is there anything in particular that you want?" he inquired.

"I'm not very picky when it comes to drinking, my friend. I will have whatever you're having. In the meantime, I'll get a table for us." Grinning at him, I turned on my heel and sauntered over to an empty table on the other side of the tavern, taking a seat and crossing my legs. While Lanacai was asking Lloyd for our drinks I took the time to look around the small room, watching the various other patrons scattered about. Many of them seemed exhausted, though after what Lanacai told me had happened in Redcliffe recently, that was no surprise to me. These men were battered and beaten, and the only way to forget all of their hardships was by drwoning them in alcohol. It seemed like a reasonable enough solution to me.

Lanacai came over with our drinks a couple of minutes later and sat down across from me, pushing the mug across the tabletop toward me. Going by the smell, it was only ale, and that was fine by me. I lifted the mug to my lips and took a swig of ale, smiling over the rim of the mug at Lanacai.

"Fereldan ale tastes so much different than Antivan ale," I noted, swirling the mug's contents around idly. "It still has a certain appeal, however. It is difficult to place…"

Lanacai chuckled lightly, taking another swig from his own mug. "How is Antivan ale different? Surely it's brewed in a similar fashion?"

"Well, Antivan ale has a couple of fruit juices mixed in, as well as several spices, which gives it a very rich flavor," I replied. "Other than that, it is made with grain just like Fereldan ale. In general, though, it is much more flavorful."

Lanacai drank some more ale. "Fruit and spices… Huh. I will have to try Antivan ale sometime, should I ever happen upon it."

"That you should. Just make sure you share!" I laughed and leaned back against the wall that our table was against, absently watching the other tavern-goers once more.

A few minutes later, Lanacai addressed me and I turned my head to look at him, cocking an eyebrow at him curiously.

"Yes?"

"A few nights ago, at camp… after you stitched my wound…" He trailed off, seemingly not knowing whether he should continue. I watched him and waited calmly, silently willing him to continue. "Well… afterward, when we… when we…"

"Kissed?" I finished for him, inwardly grinning when he shifted uncomfortably in his seat.

"Yes. I just wanted to say, I'm sorry."

"For what? You're a good kisser, so you needn't apologize for not being one."

"No, that's not what I mean. I'm sorry for reacting the way I did. As awkward as it may have been, I shouldn't have made up any excuses so you would leave. I should have spoken my mind. It would have been more honorable of me to do so." I surprised him with my laughter.

"That is nothing to apologize for, my friend. The sensation surprised me as well, even though I actually quite enjoyed it. You, however, I didn't expect to enjoy it as much, being interested only in women, as I am sure you are." That, of course, was a big lie. I had presumed all along that Lanacai was interested in both men and women, since I would sometimes catch him staring at me when he thought I wouldn't notice.

He sighed and looked away, troubled by my words.

"That is just it," he said. "I am interested in both."

I smirked and leaned forward, setting my elbows on the table and lacing my fingers to rest my chin upon them. "I see. Well, that is quite surprising. I would not have guessed just by looking at you… unless the occasional sultry stare in my direction when you thought I wouldn't notice was anything to go by."

Lanacai sighed and smiled faintly at me, knowing that there was no use denying my allegations if I had seen him staring at me once in a while.

"And here I thought I was being subtle… It is true, you have been drawing my eye quite easily as of late, but… Maker, I shouldn't be thinking of such things while there is a Blight to be stopped."

"Even a Warden has desires, Lanacai," I said, smiling at him. "Every man needs release; a pleasant distraction, if you will. You cannot reprimand yourself for natural desires."

Lanacai once again looked troubled, though it was a bit more guarded this time. "Stopping the Blight is more important than satisfying my own needs, Zevran. Compared to the innocent lives that will be lost if the Blight is not stopped, my own life and wants are meaningless."

I scoffed at that, raising an eyebrow at him skeptically. "Perhaps not _as_ important, but still important, nonetheless. Surely you wish to settle down once in a while and have a little fun?"

"Yes, I do."

"Then what is the problem? Such desires don't necessarily have to get in the way of duty, you know." Judging by the expression that crossed Lanacai's features at that moment, I would say I had won the argument.

He sighed and smiled faintly, taking a sip of ale before once again setting the mug down on the table in front of him.

"Perhaps you are right…" he conceded reluctantly.

I smirked triumphantly and clapsed my hands behind my head as I leaned against the wall once more, stretching lazily. I was beginning to become quite bored, and I decided that toying with Lanacai's urges would be a good way to entertain myself. After all, if there was a chance that I could wear him down and make him eat his own words about not wanting to engage in such activities while there was a Blight to stop, I was taking it.

"Perhaps after we have both had our second drink, we can continue from where we left off in your tent that night." Had Lanacai been taking another sip of ale at the time, I was certain he would have spit it all over the table. That was the impression that his expression gave me. Apparently, the suddeness of my suggestion after our previous conversation had caught him by surprise. After managing to compose himself somewhat, he spoke.

"You can't be serious," he said calmly, trying to reassure himself, no doubt.

I chuckled, smiling innocently. "As serious as I will ever be, my dear Warden. You admitted to lusting after me, after all."

"I just… can't."

"Why not?"

"Listen, Zevran, I just don't want to talk about it. Drop the subject. Please."

I frowned, getting the feeling that I had made Lanacai take another journey into the deepest recesses of his mind to encounter yet another bad memory without even meaning to. I sighed and scratched the back of my head uncomfortably, glancing away.

"Very well. I apologize."

When both of our mugs were empty, Lanacai went and got us each one more drink, only this time, there were no words to be had over our ale. An uncomfortable silence had fallen between us, and I didn't like it at all. It felt like I was being ignored, since Lanacai wouldn't so much as look at me, and being ignored was not something I was fond of. It wasn't long before I was finished with my second mug of ale and, feeling restless, I got to my feet.

"We still have quite a while before we need to meet with Arl Eamon, right? If it's alright with you, I would like to walk around the village on my own for a while. I will meet up with you and the others at the castle later," I announced when Lanacai gave me a questioning look. Before Lanacai had even a chance to inquire about my sudden decision to explore, I had left the tavern.

I needed some time alone to think…

**End of chapter 7. Their sparring scene was very fun to write, btw. xD Anywho, R&R as always, and see you next chapter!  
**


	8. The Plan

**Chapter 8 is finally up! :D Enjoy!**

**Chapter Warnings: None.**

Staying true to my word, I returned to Redcliffe Castle just in time for the meeting with Arl Eamon. After leaving the tavern, my entire afternoon had been spent relaxing on the docks by Lake Calenhad. I wasn't at all tired, but it gave me time to reflect on my previous conversation with Lanacai in the tavern. I had never met a man so reluctant to engage in any sort of pleasurable activity, and for some reason, I got the feeling that he wasn't telling me everything behind his reasoning. When he had pleaded with me to drop the subject, I could have sworn I caught a hint of desperation in his voice. Desperation, or sadness. Whatever it was that he was hiding from me, it must have been very painful.

I made my way to the foyer upon entering the castle, seeing that everyone else was already present.

"Did I miss anything?" I inquired, standing beside Alistair and crossing my arms.

"No," he responded. "Eamon wanted to wait until everyone was here before starting. He has always hated repeating himself, you see."

"A simple 'no' would have sufficed," I said with a smirk, ignoring Alistair's glare to turn my attention toward the arl. He certainly seemed much better than he had earlier that day, much more full of life. He told Lanacai to tell him what had happened while he had been comatose, and at the end of Lanacai's explanation, Eamon's expression was grave.

"This is most troubling… Loghain is the Hero of Ferelden, yet you say he deliberately betrayed the Wardens and left them—and Cailan—to die at Ostagar. I never would have thought him capable of such a thing."

"I once told myself the same thing," Alistair admitted coolly. "Now, though, I'm filled with nothing but hate for him. Duncan did not deserve the fate he abandoned him to."

"Your hatred is not misplaced," Eamon agreed. "But unfortunately, getting the rest of Ferelden to see the truth will be no easy task. Many still see Loghain's word as the honest one, and that can bode ill for us should we try to speak against him."

"He is trying to take over the throne, brother. I was in Denerim that night; I heard him. His daughter Anora is the queen, after all. As such, she is his link to the throne."

Lanacai frowned, narrowing his eyes thoughtfully.

"Would Loghain really try to steal the crown from his own daughter?"

"If he has indeed gone mad with power, then yes, I believe it is certainly a possibility," Eamon stated grimly. "The only way to keep him from the throne would be to put forward our own candidate, one with a stronger right to the throne than he."

Teagan looked at Eamon with something akin to surprise on his face, and I saw him cast the briefest glance in Alistair's direction. That thoroughly peaked my curiosity, and I shot Alistair a questioning look. He ignored me, but his gaze was fixed anxiously upon Arl Eamon.

"Do you mean Alistair, Eamon?" Teagan asked uncertainly. "Are you sure?"

"What choice do we have? Alistair is directly related to Maric and therefore, he has royal blood. Neither Loghain nor Anora are of royal blood themselves, which gives us a slight advantage."

"I suppose you have a point…"

Alistair spoke up then, and the expression on his face and the tone of his voice betrayed just how angry he was at the topic of his being a candidate for the throne.

"Don't _I_ get any say in this?" he demanded. "I may be Maric's bastard, but I would make a _terrible_ king! I'm no leader… I never was."

Lanacai turned his head to look at Alistair, smiling slightly at him as though to reassure him.

"In time, Alistair, I think you would make a fine king," he stated with sincerity in his voice. "You would be a great leader if you put your mind to it."

Alistair scoffed at that and frowned at Lanacai, looking like he thoroughly didn't believe his words. His stubbornness was certainly a trait that proved in and of itself that Alistair would make a decent king. The best kings in Antiva had always been strong-willed, resolute men. Alistair seemed just like that to me in some ways.

"It's like you don't know me at all," Alistair grumbled.

"Alistair," Eamon chided calmly, "you are our only hope of ensuring that Loghain does not wrongfully acquire the throne. You are the true heir, the only one worth enough to wear the crown. With you as a candidate, I believe we stand a chance."

All of this drama intrigued me, and I glanced at Alistair to see what sort of reaction Eamon's words would yield. Finally, after several minutes of silence, Alistair sighed.

"I… Yes, sir," he mumbled reluctantly, giving in before falling silent and avoiding eye contact with anyone.

"Then it's settled. I will call a Landsmeet, and I will inform the nobles of what is to take place, though it will take some time. While I prepare for the Landsmeet and while my soldiers prepare to assist you against the darkspawn, you should persue the rest of those treaties. Once you have built up your army, return here and we will discuss what happens next."

Lanacai saluted with one arm across his chest and he bowed just slightly out of respect.

"Very well. We should be off, then. The sooner these treaties are fulfilled, the sooner the Blight can be stopped."

"True enough, but all of you traveled such a long way to get here. It would be a shame if you left so soon. I would be honored if you would all spend the night here," Eamon said with a kind smile. "We have many spare rooms, and some rest would do you good. Once you have rested up, come morning, you may leave if you wish."

"Thank you, Arl Eamon. That is gracious of you."

"Now that that business is settle, I believe a decision of what to do with my attempted assassin is in order." Eamon turned toward his brother, his expression becoming grim. "Where is the mage now?"

"He is in the dungeon, Eamon," Teagan answered, frowning.

"Bring him here. I wish to have a word with him."

At his brother's command, Teagan left and headed to the dungeon to bring the mage in question. I was quite intrigued to see this mage, since I had not had the opportunity to meet him before like the others.

When Teagan and a handful of guards returned with the mage, I was surprised to see how young and frightened he looked. He didn't look like an assassin to me; he was much too nervous. If he had been trying to become a serious assassin and go through the Crows' grueling training, I was certain he would have backed out within a day of starting. He just didn't look like he would have what it took to be any kind of assassin, at least a professional one. I was snapped out of my thoughts when Eamon spoke.

"Your name is Jowan, correct?" he asked, frowning at the young mage. The mage nodded his head slightly in response, smiling sadly.

"That's correct, sir."

"You come into my home at my wife's request, to help our son Connor… and you repay her by poisoning me, and as a result, lead my son to become an abomination by accepting a deal from a demon to make me well again. Everything I hold dear in this world was nearly torn apart by your actions. What you have done has caused much grief; I hope you realize this. What do you have to say for yourself, Jowan?"

The young mage took in a slightly shaky breath, his eyes glistening. I saw deep remorse on his pale face, and I almost felt sorry for him.

"I do regret what I have done to you and your family. You have to believe me, though, I did not wish for what happened to your son, and I am deeply sorry for your loss. That being said… I will accept any punishment you see fit to inflict upon me."

I expected Eamon to order his guards to take Jowan away and execute him immediately, but instead, he turned toward Lanacai and asked his opinion on what Jowan's fate should be. Perhaps Jowan's obvious remorse for what he had done helped Eamon decide to be more merciful toward the poor man. That was my assumption, anyway.

I watched Lanacai with interest, noting the expression of apology on his face and how his brow knitted together as he thought about what Jowan's ultimate fate should be. Finally, he spoke, his expression serious.

"I am sorry, Jowan," he began, "but what you have done here in Redcliffe is unforgivable. Nothing justifies what you did to Eamon, under any circumstances. However… it is not up to me to decide what becomes of you. Arl Eamon, the decision of what to do with him is entirely in your hands."

"Very well… In that case, Jowan, for your crimes against my family and myself, I sentence you to death. May the Maker have mercy on you."

Jowan inhaled shakily and nodded, looking like he was going to be sick but standing tall and proud nonetheless with a tiny, remorseful smile upon his lips. He was brought out of the room and back to the dungeon at Eamon's order, and I watched him be escorted out of the room with two heavily-armored Redcliffe guards by his sides, I couldn't help but feel some degree of respect for him. Even when being faced with such a terrible fate, he was still able to hold his head up high with confidence… like a true warrior.

"Thank you again, Warden, for everything you have done," Eamon said, drawing everyone's attention to him once more. He smiled kindly at Lanacai and then at Alistair, getting smiles in return. "I do not know how I could ever repay you for your deeds here in Redcliffe."

"You don't have to repay us at all," stated Lanacai. "We are not asking for anything more than your support in driving back the Blight."

"Even so, I wish to reward you somehow… and I think I know how." He walked over to an armor rack that was against the wall and grabbed a handsome shield from it, walking over to Lanacai and handing it to him. "Take this shield. It is the very same shield all of my soldiers use in battle. From this moment on, I deem you the Hero of Redcliffe. You and your allies will always be welcome in these halls."

Lanacai looked down at the shield with surprise for a few moments before smiling and nodding at Eamon. "Thank you, Eamon. I will make certain that it does not go to waste."

"Fair enough. Now then, Isolde… would you be so kind as to show our guests to their rooms? They need all the rest they can procure for the journey that lies ahead of them."

"Of course, Eamon," consented Isolde with a kind smile before pressing a kiss to her husband's cheek. She looked at each of us in turn and bid us follow her, which we did. She led us upstairs to show us to our rooms, and once I had been shown to mine, I thanked her and shut the door behind me, glancing about the room with a grin. It was certainly much nicer than any inn I had ever stayed the night in. I lay back on the comfortable bed with a content sigh and closed my eyes, allowing the warmth and softness of the bed under me to soothe me. The weeks spent sleeping outdoors in a tent could definitely take a toll on one's body. Within minutes, I allowed the shroud of darkness and dreams to envelope me, and I was asleep.

**End of chapter 8. **

**I love Jowan too much to leave him out of my story, so I gave him a brief little cameo. xD**

**With any luck, chapter 9 will be up within the next couple of weeks, at the most. It's most likely going to be a pretty long chapter, since it's going to deal with the whole Circle of Magi quest line, but if I decide it's getting too long, I may split it into two separate chapters. Thanks for sticking around for this much of the story, and I hope you will all stick around for the rest of the story as well. Your kind comments always make me smile, so as always, R&R!  
**


	9. Broken Circle

**Chapter 9 is FINALLY done! x_x Thank the Maker! lol. Lanacai and Zev share a bit of an intimate moment in this one. *ninja***

**Chapter Warnings: Suggestive content.**

Just as Arl Eamon had suggested, we took our leave early the following morning. Before we left, though, Bann Teagan stopped us at the castle gates.

"Since you're going out to fulfill your treaties, I recommend going to the Circle of Magi first. It is closest, only a two days' journey northward, in the middle of Lake Calenhad," he suggested, smiling kindly at each of us in turn. "Good luck to you all, and thank you for going out of your way to save my brother."

"It was no trouble, Teagan," Lanacai said, clapping the man on the shoulder and smiling at him. "Take care of yourself. We'll be back as soon as we have fulfilled all of our treaties."

"I will pray for your safe return. May the Maker guide your steps."

Once all of our goodbyes had been taken care of, we were off. Our entire trek was along the eastern edge of Lake Calenhad, and luckily for us, the weather was nice. There was the odd band of bandits or darkspawn once in a while, but it was nothing we couldn't handle with ease.

On that first day, we stopped only twice to rest: once when the sun was at its highest point in the vast sky above us, and once when the sun had retired below the horizon for the evening. Only a fool traveled at night.

That first night, everyone kept mostly to themselves. Even Leliana, who was usually so cheerful, remained dead silent save for humming the occasional Orlesian tune to herself. It was the most boring I had ever seen everyone at one time. Since no one seemed to be in the mood for a leisurely chat, I made my way past the boundary of the camp and into the cover of the trees. There was at least half a mile of trees that dotted the landscape heading into the Korcari Wilds, so I could have some privacy.

Once I had found a good spot, I sat down under a nearby pine and unsheathed my swords, lightly running a fingertip along the blade of each. They had become a bit dull over the past few weeks, what with all the battles we had been in, so I decided that it would be a good time to sharpen them. Every good assassin or warrior knew that a dull sword was an ineffective sword.

I took the appropriate sharpening tool out of my pack and proceeded to swipe it along the blade of one of my swords, concentrating on nothing else but the task in front of me. I sat alone for quite a while sharpening my swords, listening to the sounds of night that were floating all around me and dancing in and out of the shadows like ghosts. As peaceful as it all was, I remained alert. Who was I to say that there were no darkspawn wandering about, waiting for the opportune moment to strike out at me from the darkness?

With this thought in my mind, every muscle in my body went tense when I heard something or someone fast approaching me and I held my breath, remaining absolutely silent. I relaxed, however, upon hearing a bark that undoubtely belonged to Ripper, followed by Lanacai's voice.

"Damn it, Ripper, get back here with that!" came his voice, cutting through the silence like a knife. The mabari crashed through the undergrowth then, and I could see that something was dangling from his mouth. I chuckled when I immediately recognized it as Lanacai's pack. The dog's ears perked up at the noise and his tail started wagging once he spotted me. He padded over to me, proceeding to drop Lanacai's pack right onto my lap.

The Warden himself soon arrived, breathing somewhat heavily with fatigue and looking quite displeased at his canine companion, who had taken the liberty of lying down next to me with his head resting on my thigh. When he saw me, Lanacai sighed.

"My apologies, Zevran, if Ripper is bothering you. For whatever reason he decided to make off with my pack and have me chase him…" His eyes narrowed when Ripper lifted his head from my lap to look at his master, panting and wagging his tail happily as though he had done nothing wrong. I laughed.

"It's perfectly alright, my dear Warden. I was merely sharpening my swords; no harm done." I rested my hand on Ripper's strong back, lightly petting him between his shoulder blades. "I am beginning to think this dog is becoming fond of me. This is the second time we have run into each other like this."

"Really?"

"Yes. The first time was on the night I helped stitch your wound, before I returned to camp after my bath."

"Oh." Lanacai was silent for a few minutes before smiling slightly and scratching the back of his head almost nervously.

"Would you mind if I joined you?" he questioned. His anxiety was absolutely adorable. How could I say no? I chuckled and gestured for him to sit down beside me, grinning.

"Be my guest," I invited, scratching Ripper's back and hearing a growl of contentment escape him. My eyes followed Lanacai as he approached and sat beside me, paying special attention to how some of that thick, dirty-blond hair fell in front of his eyes when he moved to sit down. He leaned back against the pine tree like I was and tilted his head back, smiling peacefully and closing his eyes.

We sat there in silence for quite some time until Lanacai's deep voice broke that silence.

"I have been thinking," he said.

"Oh? What about? I inquired, eyeing him curiously.

"I've been thinking that a better explanation is in order… about why I have been resisting certain urges around you."

_About time_, I thought. "Well, in that case, I am all ears." I watched him intently, awaiting his explanation. I was actually quite eager to learn more about my companion, not only for the sake of it meaning he had enough trust in me to divulge such personal things to me, but also because I was genuinely interested in his life.

"On the night my family was killed," he began after a few moments of hesitation, "I had been in my room with a man whom I had only just met that very same day. You see, I have—or _had_—a reputation in Highever for bedding various people whenever I saw fit… including elven servants, on occasion. When I first met Dairren, though, I got the feeling that he was different from all of my past lovers." He smiled sadly. "He was innocent, kind… and rather good in bed, I admit."

"Oh, dear." I smirked, elbowing Lanacai playfully in the side. "I am willing to bet he was thinking the same about you."

Lanacai chuckled lightly. "Perhaps. Anyway… after we had made love, we lay there in each other's arms for a while. A short time later, Ripper had started growling at the door, and Dairren told me that he had heard something out in the hall. I had not heard anything, but Dairren seemed frightened, so I knew he must have heard _something._

"Dairren and I got out of bed, and he volunteered to go out into the hallway to see what was going on" I frowned when I saw a slight shimmer in Lanacai's eyes, and for a minute, I thought he would say no more. I was proven wrong, however, when he once again opened his mouth to speak.

"The closer Dairren got to the door, the more I felt like something was horribly wrong. I reached out to grab his arm and stop him from opening the door, but… I was too late. Out in the hall, some of Howe's men were waiting with their bows drawn. The moment the door swung open, an arrow went flying through the doorway and struck Dairren right in the heart… It killed him instantly."

Lanacai looked away to hide his expression from me, but I could tell he must have been close to tears just by how his voice cracked at the end of his tale. The poor man… So much had happened to him; it was no wonder he was reluctant to get close to anyone!

I could see how upset he was, so I set a hand on his shoulder in a reassuring manner, frowning apologetically at him. He glanced up at me sadly, his brow knitted together with grief and his eyes shimmering in the dim light.

"I am sorry, my friend," I said sincerely. "After hearing your story, I can see now why you might be afraid to get close to anyone. You fear that if you get close to another person, you will lose them just like you lost Dairren. Am I right?"

"Yes… To this day, I cannot help but think that if I had been the one to open the door that night to see what was going on, Dairren would still be alive now. His death… was all my fault."

"What happened to Dairren was not your fault, Lanacai," I said firmly. "Things like this happen every single day. It cannot be avoided. Do you think that if you had been the one to take the arrow and not Dairren, he would not be feeling as terribly as you are now?"

"No, but—"

"Exactly. Lanacai… you do realize that you are worrying over nothing, don't you? If losing me is what you are afraid of, there is no need! I have been in tight spots before, and I am quite capable of protecting myself. You do not need to worry about anything like what happened to Dairren happening to me."

"How can you possibly know that?" he asked me. "No one can see the future, Zevran. No one can be that certain about what their future holds." He silenced himself when I rested one hand lightly against his cheek, staring into his eyes and smiling at him.

"I know. I also know that there is _always_ a risk of the inevitable happening, no matter what one might do to stop it. People die every day. That is just the way things are. One cannot live in fear forever." As selfish as it was, by then, all I wanted were those lips in front of me. Of course, I sympathized with Lanacai's situation… but when he was so close, how could I resist the temptation any longer? And so, without another moment's hesitation, I kissed him. It wasn't a mere brush of lips like the first time, but it was a real one, my lips pressed right up against his.

I heard him inhale sharply in surprise, and I felt him become tense, but I held the kiss. If he had wanted to pull away, he would have already done it. I did not force myself on him, but allowed him sufficient room to pull away just in case he would change his mind.

Much to my relief, I soon felt him relax and was quite pleased when I felt him reciprocate the kiss, his lips beginning to move slowly against mine. I smiled against his lips and turned just enough to wrap my arms around his neck. Imagine my surprise when Lanacai, not myself, was the one deepening the kiss a minute later.

A shiver of excitement coursed through me and I parted my lips for him, allowing his tongue to dart into and out of my mouth just as quickly. Things were becoming quite heated; I could already feel my manhood becoming hard in response to Lanacai's ministrations. The fingers that had previously been wound in my hair began trailing down the side of my neck, then further still. My breath hitched slightly with anticipation, and then…

…the bastard pulled away from the kiss, leaving me aching for him and feeling rather hot and bothered. I stared at him, in complete and utter shock and disbelief. I was fairly certain my face was flushed, but I didn't care. I was too annoyed to care.

"Why did you stop?" I questioned, trying not to sound too demanding. I didn't want to scare him away, after all. "I thought this was what you wanted?" I calmed somewhat when his hand found my cheek, but my expression was still demanding answers.

"I do," he stated, his voice somewhat husky with desire. "I think that perhaps it would be best if we continue this once my wound is fully healed, however. That is, of course, if you still want me then. If we do anything too rigorous so soon after my injury, it could become worse, whether it is stitched or not."

As much as I may have wanted to protest, I refrained; I knew Lanacai was right. I nodded slightly and pulled away from him, masking my disappointment with a small grin.

"Very well. If you wish to wait, so be it." I shrugged indifferently and got to my feet, ignoring Ripper's protesting whimper when the movement made him move his head from its previous resting place on my thigh.

"Goodnight then, Warden. I will see in the morning when we once again set out toward the Circle Tower." I sheathed my swords (which had been discarded in the grass at some point, though I don't remember when) and allowed Lanacai a muttered "goodnight" before making my way back to camp.

When I was sure I was out of earshot, I sighed. It appeared that once again, Lanacai and myself would be relieving our own sexual tension in our respective tents rather than relieving each other's. That night, my tent seemed as cold as ever.

The following night was when we finally arrived at the Lake Calenhad dock. In the middle of the lake, the Circle tower could clearly be seen, looking tall enough to scrape the sky itself. Something about the sight of the tower unnerved me, but I didn't know why.

On the dock, guarding a small boat, was a young man wearing heavy, elaborate armor that I recognized as a templar's standard armor. We approached him, but he held his hand up to signal us not to go any further.

"What's going on?" Lanacai asked, frowning at the man. "We need to go to the Circle of Magi and ask for their assistance."

"Is that so? And who might _you_ be, ser?" the man demanded, crossing his arms and eyeing us suspiciously.

"I am a Grey Warden."

"Ooh, a Grey Warden, eh? If you're really a Warden, prove it!"

Lanacai scowled. "I don't have to prove anything to you."

"Actually, you do. If you don't, I'm not letting you across. It's that simple."

"I have treaties right here," Lanacai relented, "one of which stating that the Circle must help us in the event of a Blight. Is that enough proof for you?"

"Sure it is. If it's real."

The templar was starting to get on all of our nerves, and I knew this because upon looking around at the rest of our little party, Morrigan was looking more murderous than usual, and Alistair had a you-have-got-to-be-kidding-me look on his face that made me chuckle.

"How about this: what would your knight-commander say if we _are_ telling the truth and he finds out you gave us a hard time? He would be very displeased with you, I imagine." I raised my eyebrows at Lanacai when he spoke, impressed. What a sly fox he was!

"He wouldn't care!" the templar snapped before abruptly stopping to think about Lanacai's statement for a moment. "Oh, wait… actually, he would… Good point." He was obviously not too fond of the idea of displeasing his knight-commander.

"So you will take us across the lake then?" Lanacai questioned, glancing briefly in my direction and sending me a grin, which I immediately returned. The fact that he had been able to change the templar's mind so easily amused me greatly. He really was more cunning than I had given him credit for.

"I suppose I don't have much of a choice," the templar grumbled, frowning. "Hurry it up and get on the boat then. We haven't got all night." We did just that, piling onto the boat that was barely big enough to hold all of us. As soon as we were ready, the templar rowed us out to the Circle tower, grumbling various things under his breath that I wasn't quite able to catch.

When I looked up at the tower upon our arrival, I felt like an ant. Compared to us, the tower was enormous, even more so now that we were right there. We followed the templar into the tower and were immediately met with a frenzy of activity. There were templars everywhere, each doing something different. Some were tending to wounded comrades, those who were wounded were groaning in pain, and others were standing near a large door on the other side of the room, apparently guarding it. In the center of the room was an authoritative templar who could only be the knight-commander, and he was giving orders to one of his subordinates.

"Stay by the door," he commanded. "Make sure no one goes in and nothing comes out."

"Ser!" The templar saluted in the traditional Fereldan manner of crossing one's arms over their just and bowing just slightly at the torso before assuming his post by the door, his weapon drawn. We approached the irate knight-commander and upon seeing us, the man's brow furrowed. He obviously wasn't having a good day.

"Who are these people?" he asked the templar who had brought us across the lake. "I thought I told you to make sure no one gets across the lake to the tower?" He sounded angry, and the young templar shied away nervously as he stuttered a response.

"I-I know what you told me, ser, but this man claims to be a Grey Warden. H-He said he needs an audience w-with the mages of the Circle."

The knight-commander's eyes widened slightly. "Grey Wardens, you say?"

"Yes, ser," said Lanacai calmly, stepping forward and taking a scroll out of his pack to unroll for the knight-commander to see. "I have here a treaty that says the mages are obligated to assist us in the event of a Blight."

The man examined the treaty for a few moments before sighing and frowning. "So you really are Wardens then… I believe introductions are in order. I am Gregoire, knight-commander of the templars here at the tower. Under normal circumstances I would allow you into the tower to see the mages… but the tower is no longer safe."

"What do you mean?" asked Alistair curiously. "Did something happen?"

"There was an incident, and we lost control of the mages. Abominations and blood mages everywhere. To prevent the loss of more of my men, I sounded the retreat and had the rest of the tower closed off."

"There could still be Circle mages alive in there. We can't just abandon them," Lanacai said firmly, frowning at Gregoire seriously.

"I have very little hope left that there are any mages who are still alive. To remedy the situation, I have sent word to Denerim for reinforcements and the Right of Annulment."

"Right of Annulment?"

"They intend to break the Circle," Alistair explained, his expression grave as we all turned to look at him. "It is an extreme measure that is only to be used when there is no other option."

"That is correct," said Grimoire with a nod. "However, I have yet to receive a word of reply from anyone in Denerim."

"It will not need to be done. We will go in for you and search for any survivors." I couldn't help but admire Lanacai's confident tone and stance.

"Are you mad?" Gregoire demanded, shocked by Lanacai's offer. "An abomination is not a force to be reckoned with, and you will face more than one."

"It is nothing we can't handle. I assure you."

Gregoire seemed very reluctant to comply with Lanacai's request, but after a few minutes of thought, he nodded and frowned grimly at us.

"Very well… I will let you into the tower. However, know this, Warden: unless I hear from First Enchanter Irving himself that we have won back the tower, that door will not open again. Once you go in, there is no turning back. Is that understood?"

"Yes, ser."

"Good. May the Maker watch over you, Warden."

Once Gregoire had given us leave to enter the tower, one of his templars opened the door for us and we made our way inside. The heavy door was shut and locked behind us as soon as we were inside. We were on our own.

"Everyone, stay close," Lanacai ordered quietly. "I want no one left behind." We proceeded further into the tower, and the further we went, the more grisly the scene became. Templars and mages alike, some completely torn apart, littered the floor, their blood decorating the floor and walls.

"Maker's breath," I heard Leliana murmur, sounding absolutely horrified. "These poor people… Such a horrible fate to befall them."

"This is what happens when abominations are allowed to roam free," stated Morrigan, not sounding the least bit bothered by what she was seeing.

On that happy note, we continued on our way. It wasn't long before we found a small group of living mages and children. One of the mages, an elderly woman who time had been very kind to, in my opinion, was face-to-face with a ferocious-looking demon of fire. With a wave of her staff, a stream of icy wind shot toward the demon and neutralized it almost immediately, sending it into oblivion where it belonged. One of the other mages noticed us and she panicked, wrapping her arms around two of the children as though trying to protect them from us.

"Wynne!" she cried, alerting the older woman to our presence.

The woman known as Wynne turned and glared at us, her staff at the ready in case she needed to use it.

"State your purpose here, or I will strike you where you stand," she threatened, her voice sounding somewhat weak and strained.

"We are here to save the Circle," Lanacai stated, crossing his arms and smiling slightly at Wynne. "The templars have called for the Right of Annulment, and we would like to set things in order before it arrives."

"The Right of Annulment? Oh dear… Gregoire must think we are all dead and that all hope is lost, if he would resort to that." Wynne paused then, narrowing her eyes at Lanacai as she observed him more closely. If I were Lanacai, I would have been feeling very self-conscious at that point. Soon, her eyes widened with apparent recognition, particularly when she spotted Alistair standing behind him.

"Wait… I know you. You are the new Grey Warden. Lanacai, I believe. We spoke briefly at Ostagar, before the battle."

"Yes, I remember. It is good to see you again, Wynne, though I wish it were under better circumstances. I must admit, I never thought I would ever see you again."

"I could say the same. However, we can catch up on things later. Right now, the Circle's problems must be dealt with."

"What can you tell us about what happened here, Wynne?" Lanacai inquired, sounding genuinely concerned.

"We had a bit of an uprising on our hands," she responded, "and we lost control of the situation. I have put up a barrier to keep out the demons and abominations in order to protect the children."

"Well," I put in matter-of-factly, "that demon you were fighting when we arrived seemed to have gotten through the barrier just fine."

Of course, Wynne ignored me.

"I will, however, remove the barrier, should you agree to help me save the rest of the mages within the tower who remain alive."

"Let's go, then. Above all else, we need to find the First Enchanter. Gregoire said that unless he hears from Irving himself that the tower is secure, the Circle is finished," Lanacai explained gravely, frowning at Wynne.

"In that case, our path is clear: we must save Irving. I will go with you and assist you in the task of finding him. Petra, Kinnon, you must watch over the children while I am gone."

"Wynne, are you sure?" asked the woman named Petra. "You were so badly hurt earlier… You really shouldn't strain yourself."

"I will be fine," Wynne murmured reassuringly to the concerned Petra. "Just worry about keeping the children safe." She then turned to look at Lanacai, her expression serious.

"I'll dispel the barrier whenever you're ready."

"We're as ready as we will ever be, my dear woman," I said with a grin. "Lead the way."

We approached the barrier Wynne had erected, and I heard her say something about how she was surprised she had been able to maintain the barrier for so long.

"Did it tire you out?" Lanacai inquired before I had the chance to pose a more sarcastic question.

"It did make me very weary at times," she answered. "At times, it was hard for me to focus… but I forced myself to keep going for the children's sake." She wielded her staff and, giving it a small twirl, dispelled the barrier that was barring our way further into the tower.

"There, it is done." Wynne sounded weary. "Come. The sooner we can find Irving, the better."

Without argument, we followed Wynne deeper into the tower, slaying any demons and abominations that we came across. In the tower storeroom we met a mage named Owain who seemed unusually fearless and completely void of all emotions. I found out later that he was a tranquil, a mage who underwent a ritual to rid them of the ability to feel. The whole concept creeped me out, so I tried not to think about it too much.

Owain told us about how Niall, one of the Circle mages, had taken an object called the Litany of Adralla from the storeroom in order to combat the blood mages who were trying to take control of the tower.

"How many blood mages are there?" Alistair questioned, quite concerned by what Owain had just told us.

"I do not know," Owain drawled dully. "All I know is that they are being led by Uldred."

"Niall was in the meeting," Wynne noted, frowning. "He would know about what's going on."

"If this Litany of Adralla will help us combat the blood mages, we should find this Niall person," I stated. "That would be wise, no?"

"Yes, it would," Wynne agreed, finally acknowledging my existence. Her ignorance of my presence had been getting rather irritating. "We must move quickly, before more damage is done. Owain, will you be safe here?"

"You have already dispatched the nearby abominations. I have nothing to fear. I will stay here and continue to clean up the storeroom. May the Maker watch over you."

And so, we left Owain behind and continued on our way. A few rooms away from the storeroom, some unfamiliar voices drifted to us and we stopped upon realizing they were from a small group of scheming blood mages. The things they were saying made me feel sick to my stomach.

I smirked slowly when an idea came to me and I pulled one of my daggers out of its sheath as quietly as I could. I nudged Lanacai in the side with my elbow to get his attention and he looked surprised when he realized what I was planning.

"Are you sure?" he muttered, questioning whether my idea would be a good one, or not.

"Of course," I answered. "However, if it would make you feel better, perhaps Leliana could accompany me. She is a rogue, too, after all, and two heads are always better than one."

"He is right," Leliana said softly, taking out a dagger of her own and smiling. "I will be more than happy to assist you, Zevran."

"Alright," Lanacai consented, smiling slightly. "Just be careful, you two. Even the best laid plans can go awry."

"Oh, believe me: I know that all too well, my friend." I winked at him and Leliana and I proceeded into the room where the blood mages were talking. We moved quickly but quietly, surefooted as cats and sticking to the shadows where we wouldn't be seen. I was a master of stealth, if I did say so myself, so I knew exactly what to do.

The poor fools didn't know what hit them as Leliana and I ambushed them. Blood flew as the three mages were cut down, two by me and one by Leliana. Soon they were dead and bleeding on the floor. The poor bastards had had no chance to retaliate. Lanacai and the others joined us when I called to them that the blood mages had been dealt with. At the sight of all the blood, Wynne and Alistair cringed simultaneously.

"You're brutal, Leliana," Alistair noted. "It is hard to believe you were a Chantry sister."

"Did you think I was _always_ part of the cloister?" asked Leliana with an innocent smile. She chose not to elaborate when Alistair asked her what she meant, and we left it at that.

With the three blood mages taken care of, Wynne led us further up the tower. We faced many abominations on the third and fourth floors, including some undead… but none of that prepared us for what we encountered next.

In a room on the fourth floor, we came face-to-face with another abomination, and at its feet was the immobile, lifeless body of a mage. Unfortunately for us, the abomination had sensed our presence and slowly turned around to face us. I felt a shiver of fear and disgust shoot through me like a white-hot arrow when those glassy, soulless, and evil eyes fixed themselves on me for a few seconds. I knew then that this creature was not like the other abominations we had faced in the tower.

"Demon," Lanacai growled, visibly tightening his grip on the hilt of his sword, "what have you done to that man there?"

"I have given him dreams," rasped the abomination, surprising us all with its ability to speak. "I have taken away all of his sadness, all of his pain… so he can rest peacefully."

As expected, none of us believed the creature. Demons were not to be trusted, after all. They existed only to deceive and cause pain and anguish. We readied our weapons to attack.

The abomination opened its arms to us, a strange mist beginning to swirl around it. I began noticing that I felt tired, my daggers feeling heavier than they should and my legs feeling like lead.

"Hasn't there been enough violence?" the creature questioned in a dull tone. "You should lie down… Rest."

I yawned, covering my mouth with my hand as I did so. I was feeling so tired that I had even felt the need to drop my daggers, since they suddenly felt heavy enough to make me fall over.

"Maybe it wouldn't hurt to… lie down for a few…" I yawned again. "…minutes."

"Resist, Zevran!" demanded Lanacai, sounding as tired as I did though clearly trying his hardest to resist the temptation to simply collapse to the floor and sleep. "Don't let the beast get to you!"

"We must… resist… We must resist or we will…" Wynne trailed off and paused to yawn, and moments later, she collapsed upon the floor in a heap, caught in a deep slumber. Alistair followed soon after, then Leliana and Morrigan, and even Ripper. I fought against the urge to sleep as hard as I could, having to lean against the wall to keep myself from collapsing. Lanacai appeared to be giving in to the abomination's will, collapsing to one knee and loosening his grip upon his sword.

"Give up, and rest. The world will go on without you," drawled the abomination. Those words and a weak remark directed toward me from Lanacai were the last words I knew before my body met the floor and everything went black.

**End of chapter 9.**

***dramatic drum roll* To be continued next chapter! For those of you who had Zevran with you during the "Broken Circle" quest line of DA:O... you probably already know how the next chapter will start. xD See you next chapter!  
**


	10. The Fade

**Chapter 10 is finally up! :D It's the shortest chapter so far, unfortunately... but that is only because my creativity kinda ran out on this one. ^_^;; Certain things that were in this section of the game, I needed to leave out because I could not figure out how to fit them in, so I apologize for that in advance. Anywho, please enjoy this chapter, and as always, R&R!**

**Chapter Warnings: None.**

Pain. A horrible, throbbing pain was what I woke up to. I groaned with discomfort, wincing in response to the sensation I was experiencing. The pain was originating from my shoulders and from where my legs met my torso, and it wasn't long before I realized I was on a rack. My mind seemed fuzzy, but the situation I was in registered as vaguely familiar to me.

"Well, look who's finally decided to join the land of the living." For whatever reason, I recognized the voice, and when I looked to see who had spoken, I recognized him as an Antivan Crow.

_I see… Now I remember,_ I thought. _My training for becoming a Crow… I must have passed out._

"If he passed out from _that_ little bit of pain," started the other Crow, leering at me, "perhaps he is not fit to run with us Crows."

"No," I protested, still wincing a bit from the pain caused by being stretched on the rack. "I want to keep going… I need to."

"This one's a determined one, he is." The Crow to my immediate right turned the handle on the side of the rack, tightening the ropes and pulling my arms and legs further in opposite directions. The pain worsened and I closed my eyes tightly, clenching my hands into fists and biting my bottom lip to stifle a cry.

The torture lasted for Maker knew how long, but I refused to cry out. No matter how much pain I experienced, I could not—_would not_—cry out. If I did, it would be the end of any hopes I had of joining the ranks of the Antivan Crows, and everything I had been through during the past several years would have been all for naught. Still… the more the pain intensified, the closer I came to losing my mind and giving in.

"Zevran!" Who was calling me? It was a voice that struck a chord of familiarity in me, but I could not put it to a name or a face. Curious to see the face of the man who owned that beautiful voice, I tilted my head slightly to see who it was. As soon as my eyes met his, those pools of smokey-blue, my own widened with recognition and a name flashed through my mind.

_Lanacai._

"Why are you here?" I questioned, my voice thick with pain. "You're not supposed to be… here…"

"Are you alright, Zevran?" he asked me, sounding very concerned for my safety.

"To become a Crow, I need to prove that… I can endure pain…"

"Snap out of it, Zevran. None of this is real; they're demons! And you're already a Crow!"

His words apalled and puzzled me. What did he mean, I was already a Crow? I was still going through the trials, so how could I be? Out of nowhere, my head started to feel like it was pounding. It was getting more difficult to focus, but somewhere deep down inside of me, I knew Lanacai was telling the truth.

"I don't understand, but… I… I think you're telling the truth," I said finally, frowning. "I don't know how, or why… but I believe you are right."

"Oh, my. He is beginning to doubt us. You know what the punishment is for questioning us," hissed one of the Crows, his eyes flashing dangerously. He started to turn the handle on the rack again…

"Don't touch him, demon!" Lanacai roared. My eyes went wide with shock when Lanacai suddenly transformed into what looked to be a malevolent spirit dressed in long, flowing robes. He lashed out at the two Crows with his sharp claws, freezing one of them with his icy touch and sticking his claws clean through the other's chest. As quickly as the skirmish had started, it had ended, and Lanacai assumed a human form once more.

He wasted no time in hurrying to my side, quickly loosening the slack on the ropes binding me before freeing me entirely. I climbed down from the rack and winced a bit, rolling my shoulders painfully but with some relief that I was even able to do so. I soon smirked at Lanacai, all of the memories of him returning to me.

"Ahh, there's nothing like a good racking to start the day," I said humorously, chuckling lightly.

"You're lucky I got here when I did," Lanacai stated bluntly, frowning at me. "Otherwise, those Fade demons would have pulled you apart."

"The Fade, you say? Hm… interesting." No sooner did I finish my sentence did something strange start happening: the entire world seemed to be getting sucked backward down a long tunnel and Lanacai along with it. I frowned at him and reached toward him, though the further I reached, the further away he became.

"Wait," I demanded. "Where are you going?" The last thing I heard was Lanacai's voice calling out to me faintly before the whole world around me was sucked away, leaving me in a deep darkness. I had no idea what was happening to me, but I was getting a horrible feeling about all of it. I know not how long I remained in that darkness, but eventually, I felt as though I were falling from a great height and, expecting myself to make impact with the ground and splatter into a gory mess, I shut my eyes tightly and waited for the impact.

However, it never came. I opened my eyes to see what was going on, but imagine my surprise when I realized I wasn't falling at all. I was standing on firm ground and around me, others were also starting to appear. Wynne, Alistair, Morrigan… they were all there. Alistair looked absolutely clueless, but Wynne looked very angry. I followed her gaze and saw that she was glaring across the rocky pass at an absolutely revolting demon. Lanacai was speaking to it, or rather, threatening it.

"You will free us," he hissed, "or I will cut you down where you stand!"

"Do you care about no one but yourself?" the demon asked, and I recognized it as the droning voice of the abomination we had encountered before. "I am hurt. So very, very hurt. I could create better dreams for you. You will all be much, much happier."

"No thanks. I would much rather just extinguish your evil once and for all."

"You wish to battle _me?_ Very well… I will put you in your place, mortal!"

The demon lunged forward with its claws and I watched, impressed, as Lanacai narrowly avoided injury. That was the only cue we needed and the rest of us rushed forward to assist Lanacai in the battle, brandishing our weapons with all of our might. The demon proved to be a formidable foe, indeed. When we were certain we had won, the demon would only assume a different physical form and resume its assault on us. Luckily for us, we had a couple of shapeshifters on our side as well: Morrigan, who was attempting to maul the demon with her bear form, and now Lanacai, who had taken on the form of a golem. He must have acquired the ability to shapeshift somewhere in the Fade, since he was not a mage and could not use such a power under normal circumstances.

After several different forms, our foe appeared to be weakening. I ran at the demon and sunk both of my daggers deep into its back, causing it to roar in pain and outrage. It thrashed wildly in an attempt to throw me, but I would not let it. Alistair took that time to lunge his sword at the demon's chest and succeeded in running it through. Another roar of pain, and this time, an explicative from me as well. In his carelessness, Alistair had nearly stabbed me as well as the demon.

"Watch it, Alistair!" I yelled at him, twisting my blades in the demon's flesh.

"Sorry!" Alistair cried, smiling sheepishly. I hoped I had made him feel like a fool… because that was exactly what he was.

Finally, with one final blow from Lanacai's golem form, the demon was defeated and disintegrated into thin air. I sheathed my daggers and sighed, wiping some sweat from my brow. Lanacai turned back into his human form since his other forms were no longer needed.

"We did it," said a very relieved Wynne with a tired smile.

"That wasn't so hard," Alistair panted, smiling sheepishly.

"I can't believe it; you succeeded in destroying the demon!" The unfamiliar voice came from a man who had appeared out of nowhere behind Alistair and it caused the Warden to jump and quickly turn around with a curse of surprise.

"My apologies. I didn't mean to scare you," said the man. He was wearing robes worn by the Circle mages, and for some odd reason, he seemed familiar to me.

"Niall!" Wynne gasped, clearly shocked by the sight of him. "You… The sloth demon trapped you here?"

"Yes… but now that the demon has been destroyed, you can all leave this place."

"What do you mean?" Lanacai asked Niall with a frown. "You'll return to your body, too, won't you?"

Niall shook his head and smiled sadly at him. I felt my heart sink with pity that Niall would forever be stuck in the Fade.

"I cannot return," he said barely above a murmur. "I have been here for too long. The entire time I have been here, the sloth demon was slowly eating away at me, at my life. For you… it will feel like nothing but an afternoon's nap. But for me… there is so little of me left."

"There has to be a way. I can heal you." Lanacai seemed adamant in not leaving Niall behind, and I couldn't blame him. The man was too young to suffer such a terrible fate.

"I am sorry, my friend…" Niall paused before continuing, a sad smile upon his lips. "All I wanted was to save the Circle, but I suppose you are better suited to it than I am." Another pause. "Before I was to be taken to the Circle, my mother said I was destined for greatness. I hope I haven't disappointed her."

"You haven't disappointed her, Niall," said Lanacai with a small smile. "I'm sure she's very proud of you."

Niall smiled. He must have appreciated Lanacai's kind words, in lieu of the circumstances.

"Oh, I hope so. When you return, take the Litany of Adralla from my… my body. With it, you will be able to defeat the blood mages who have taken control of the tower."

"Thank you, Niall," Lanacai began while resting a hand on Niall's shoulder. "For everything."

"You're welcome, and good luck. May the Maker watch over you… friend." Gradually, Niall's face grew blurred in my vision and soon, I was once again being engulfed in a deep, consuming darkness.

**End of chapter 10.**

**I would have put more Niall in this chapter if I could because he's just so adorable, but because Zevran only sees him during that part of the game, I could only put him in it for that one little scene. Had I been writing from Lanacai's point of view, Niall would have been in this chapter much more, but because I was not... yeah, you get the picture. xD See you next chapter!  
**


	11. Uldred

**I am soooo sorry it took so long for me to put up this chapter! x_x I kept getting writer's block or I was so busy that I didn't have time to work on it, so it delayed me in uploading the new chapter. :( It's up now, though, so enjoy!**

**Chapter Warnings: None.**

"…vran… Zevran, wake up."

I slowly opened my eyes upon hearing the voice calling out to me. Realizing that I was face-to-face with Lanacai, I grinned in a manner that I hoped was more mischievous than sleepy.

"Now why can't I wake up like this every morning?" I questioned, sounding completely serious. I laughed when Lanacai rolled his eyes.

"I was beginning to worry that you weren't going to wake up," he said sincerely, smiling a bit. I couldn't help but feel a bit warm inside when Lanacai admitted that he was worried about me. I yawned quietly and sat up, stretching and feeling surprisingly refreshed in spite of all I had been put through in the Fade.

"We need to find the Litany," Wynne said suddenly, sounding very weary.

"I believe Niall said it was on his—" Alistair trailed off when he saw Leliana pointing at the body we had seen upon arriving. Upon closer inspection, I realized that it was in fact Niall. I knelt down beside the body and searched it, soon finding the object we were looking for. I examined it curiously, raising an eyebrow at how ordinary it looked.

"This is the Litany of Adralla?" I questioned incredulously while experimentally turning it over in my hands. "It just looks like any other dusty old scroll…"

"That may be true," Wynne began, "but it possesses the power to deter a blood mage's attempts to control one's mind. If we wish to defeat Uldred, we must use it."

"We don't have any time to lose," Lanacai interrupted, taking the Litany from me and looking at it thoughtfully. "Let's go."

We proceeded deeper into the tower more cautiously than we had been, having to stay even more alert so that we would not fall victim to yet another sloth demon that may have been lurking around. I had experienced enough of the Fade to last a lifetime and I had no intention of going back.

After climbing staircase after staircase, we finally found a survivor of the madness. The room we found him in was by far the most gruesome we had seen so far in the tower. Strange masses of some sort of fleshy substance covered the floor; blood was sprayed on the walls and even the ceiling while indistinguishable body parts and internal organs littered the chamber. It was almost a sick parody of how a rambunctious child might have a tantrum and make a mess with his toys to spite his parents. To the right of the door we had just entered through was some kind of magical barrier and on the other side of it was a young and very frightened templar. Judging from the fact that he was kneeling with his hands clasped and his head lowered, he was praying to the Maker for his life.

"Ser?" Leliana said, stepping forward. "Are you alright?" I resisted a rather inappropriate chuckle. _Yes, Leliana,_ I thought with some amusement, _the man is just fine. Why don't we all just sit and chat over a nice cup of tea? It's not as though the room is covered in blood and there's a barrier separating him from us, or anything…_

The man looked up at the sound of Leliana's voice, narrowing his eyes angrily when he saw us. There was so much anger and fear in his gaze that I just had to feel sorry for him.

"Foul creatures!" he screamed at us. "Why won't you just kill me like you killed the others? I'm _right here!_ Why must you drag out this torture? What is your purpose in keeping me alive?"

"Cullen, relax!" cried Wynne. "We are not blood mages. We are here to help! Do you not recognize me?"

Cullen squinted at her, some uncertain recognition coloring his features. "Wynne…? N-No, it can't be… Those accursed blood mages would have gotten you already! None of this is real; those damned creatures are just messing with my mind again. I-I'll just close my eyes and you'll all disappear." The fool stayed true to his words and shut his eyes tight, blocking us from his vision. I felt a little insulted: even if Cullen _had_ imagined me, why in the world would he try to block out the sight of someone of such perfection?

A few minutes later the templar's eyes opened again and when he realized that we had not disappeared, he looked thoroughly confused.

"I don't understand… That has always worked before…"

"Now are you satisfied that we are the real thing?" questioned Lanacai, sounding somewhat annoyed. I couldn't blame him for being annoyed, really.

"W-Well… you can't blame me for being cautious after what those… those… _monsters_ did to my friends…"

"Your…? Oh, you mean the bloody mess?" I asked, eyes widening with mock surprise.

"Yes!" Cullen choked a bit as he spoke, seeming dangerously close to tears. "They tried to find ways to break us… Those beasts ripped them apart, and they made me _watch!_ They left me here behind this accursed barrier and went up to the Harrowing Chamber. The sounds coming from up there… Oh, Maker!"

"That's why we're here," said Lanacai in a way that was almost as though he were trying to soothe a frightened child. "We're here to stop Uldred from taking over the tower."

"Cullen," began Wynne seriously with a frown, "where is Irving? Do you know?"

"H-He's in the Harrowing Chamber," Cullen answered, flicking his gaze nervously to Wynne. "But… there's no way he could still be alive! Or, at the very least, hasn't yet been turned into an abomination himself!" Cullen got to his feet, looking at Lanacai with the utmost urgency in his eyes.

"Listen to me," he said firmly. "The Circle is finished. Those blood mages need to be killed, and so do Irving and the other mages. It is too late for them! Either they have become blood mages themselves… or they have been turned into abominations. There is no other way!"

"He is still in shock," said Alistair seriously with a frown, looking at Cullen with pity.

"I am here to save whoever can be saved," Lanacai stated, crossing his arms and frowning at Cullen disapprovingly. "If Irving and the others can be saved… then I will gladly do so."

"Were you not listening to me?" Cullen cried. "To ensure that this nightmare is ended, you must kill _everyone_ up there!"

"I would rather spare a maleficar than kill an innocent." I admired Lanacai's strength and determination. Under the circumstances, even I may have done what Cullen suggested. Lanacai was convinced that the Circle could still be saved, though, and I would follow him on whatever path he decided to take.

"No one _ever_ listens," Cullen grumbled grudgingly, glaring coldly at Lanacai. "At the very least, be careful." That was the last thing said between Cullen and our little group before we ascended the stairs to the Harrowing Chamber. I didn't know what sort of horror awaited us on the other side of that large door… but I had a bad feeling.

It seemed that the bad feeling I had gotten outside of the Harrowing Chamber had been warranted after all. Our first sight upon entering the chamber was of two abominations and two mages, one of whom was bound around the wrists by magical shackles that appeared to be suspending him in midair. The other was a bald man with a weasely sort of face and beady eyes full of evil intent: Uldred. He and the abominations appeared to be torturing the bound mage, wrenching bloodcurdling screams from him as pain shot through his body. A minute later, Uldred took hold of the man's chin and leered at him.

"Do you accept the gift I offer?" he questioned, smirking and revealing slightly crooked teeth. The frightened and pained mage in captivity nodded his head and I watched with the others, sickened, as he was thrown to the ground and both abominations and Uldred threw wave after wave of magic at him. Within a very short period of time, another abomination was added to the small group right before our very eyes.

Uldred seemed to have already been aware of our presence in the chamber and slowly turned to face us, grinning with sick satisfaction at his evil deeds.

"Well, well, what do we have here? Guests? I am surprised you made it this far. However, the fact that you are here must mean that my minions are dead. How unfortunate." Uldred's speech was as smooth as glass and as unpleasant as a snake's hiss. It sent a chill through me.

"Stop this, Uldred!" Wynne yelled angrily at him, stepping forward bravely and looking like she wanted to throttle him to death. "Why are you doing this?"

"Ah, dear Wynne… how nice of you to join us! As for why I am doing all this, I am merely awakening our full potential. Mages are merely the larval form of something _much_ greater. Only when a mage has become an abomination has his full potential fully awakened within him. It is truly a beautiful sight, is it not, Irving?" He looked over at one of the mages tied up to one side of the Harrowing Chamber, an old- and feeble-looking man: the First Enchanter.

"By the Maker, what have you done to him?" Wynne screamed.

"You're insane!" snapped Lanacai, drawing out his sword and holding it in front of him threateningly. "How can you toy with the lives of these mages so easily and feel no remorse whatsoever? It is disgraces like _you_ who are the reason templars are needed!"

"Your words sting me like many thousands of bees, my good man. Blood magic is not only good for creating more powerful mages… but it also has other practical uses." Uldred's grin widened. "Join me, and I can use the life force of these fools to make you much stronger. The strength of no other man would be able to compare!"

"Don't do it," said Irving suddenly in a very weak voice, shaking in his bindings as though he were fighting something away in order to speak. "You mustn't… let him… Uldred… must be stopped…"

"Irving, you naughty boy. And here I thought you were under my control at last. Such a shame… though I suppose that's to be expected from the First Enchanter."

"I would never resort to such evil bargains in order to increase my own power, wretch," growled Lanacai suddenly, his expression almost murderous in its intensity. I was glad that I was not the one such a gaze was aimed at. "What you are doing is disgusting, and you will pay for all of the lives that have been lost here with your own!" As if cued to do so by his words, we drew our weapons, stepping closer to Uldred and his abominations. There would be no more idle conversation, and I had no issue with that at all. I was itching to spill that creep's blood all over the floor and on my blades.

Uldred's expression became threatening and he seemed to get even uglier, if that was even possible. "You would have been better off just accepting what I had to offer, _boy!_"

And just like that, the battle had commenced. Spells were thrown in equal measure from both sides, neither side willing to give in to the other. I was alarmed and momentarily floored when I saw Uldred turn into an abomination himself, though it was much more monstrous and deformed than the others in the room. When I had regained myself, though, I ran at the beast and began cutting away at his legs, rolling out of the way whenever he swiped at me with his claws. At one time, Uldred's claws grazed me across the back and sliced right through my leather armor, causing me to yelp in pain as four shallow gashes were left across my back. Blood oozed from the wounds, and although they were not fatal, they still hurt more than I would have liked. I braced myself to dodge again when I saw Uldred about to lash out at me again, but I filled with some amount of relief when I saw Alistair stab his longsword deep into Uldred's back, resulting in a loud shriek of pain from the latter. I nodded gratefully at him to acknowledge the help he had given me, and he reciprocated the action with a grin.

Suddenly, Wynne cried out in alarm and when I turned to see where she was pointing, I could see a strange circle of light beginning to surround one of the wounded mages on the other side of the room.

"Lanacai, use the Litany before he can take control of that mage! Quickly!" she shouted, shooting a jet of fire out of the end of her staff to destroy one of the abominations that had just gone for her. I ran after Lanacai as he went to assist the mage, smirking at him when he sent a questioning glance my way.

"I'll cover you while you help the mage," I stated, wincing a bit as my movements caused a bolt of pain to shoot through my injuries. "And hurry, would you? I don't much like the idea of having to fight more abominations!"

"Right. Thank you, Zevran." Lanacai ran quickly to the mage's side and as soon as he took hold of the Litany of Adralla, the circle of light around the mage disappeared. _Well,_ I thought, _I suppose it isn't just any ordinary old scroll, after all._

Judging from the horrific roar that tore itself from Uldred's throat, he wasn't too pleased by his control over the mage being thwarted by the Litany. He made a beeline right toward Lanacai and myself and I braced myself, my grip tightening on my daggers.

_Wait for it… Wait for it…_

Once Uldred was close enough, I smirked and dove towards the opening between the beast's legs, rolling underneath him and ending up behind him. I winced again at the sensation of the floor irritating the gashes on my back when I rolled, but I tried to ignore it and spun around quickly, jumping up onto Uldred's back and digging my blades deep into his flesh. I relished in the roar of agony that escaped him as I used my blades to climb further up his back, laughing all the while. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw yet another mage become surrounded by that white light from before. Uldred was getting desperate.

"Lanacai!" I called down to him, jerking my head in the direction of the endangered mage since my hands were too preoccupied with inflicting pain upon Uldred to point. With not a moment's hesitation, Lanacai hurried over to the other mage, quickly dispelling Uldred's attempts to control him by using the Litany. Enraged by his power being rendered useless for a second time, Uldred began barreling toward Lanacai with his claws raised, prepared to crush him into a bloody pulp.

"I don't think so!" I yelled, managing to balance myself on the abomination's back for a few seconds before slamming the sharp points of both my daggers deep into the sides of Uldred's neck. Blood sprayed out in a gruesome fountain onto the polished stone floor below us and a terrible, ear-splitting shriek spilled forth from Uldred's sharp-toothed jaws. The abomination started thrashing, waving his claws around and trying to reach back with them to knock me off his back. I ducked quickly, narrowly avoiding those sharp claws.

I managed to catch sight of a very angry Lanacai running right toward Uldred with his sword raised threateningly, a mighty battle cry leaving him. I could tell from the louder roar Uldred released that Lanacai must have plunged that mighty blade deep into his flesh, and sure enough, I saw Lanacai run right past Uldred and stop a few feet away a few moments later, brandishing a very bloody sword. I felt Uldred's movements become more sluggish under me, and then his knees buckled as he collapsed to the ground. I held onto my daggers tightly, cringing when the shock caused by the impact jolted my injuries. Only when I was absolutely certain that Uldred was dead, I yanked my blades out of his flesh and jumped down off his back, rolling my shoulders to relieve my tense muscles before slipping my daggers back into the sheaths strapped across my back. Because of how they criss-crossed across my back, Uldred's claws had somehow missed them when he had attacked me.

"It's over," Wynne said with obvious relief in her voice, using her sleeve to wipe some sweat from her brow with a small smile on her face. She looked over toward her fellow mages and hurried over to them, the rest of us close behind her.

Irving looked up at Wynne upon hearing her approach and smiled gratefully at her. He looked so tired, and I could understand why. Who knew how long Uldred had been keeping him tied up there in the Harrowing Chamber, forcing him to watch his fellow mages be turned into abominations? I pulled out a smaller dagger that I only ever used in emergencies and proceeded to cut the ropes binding each of the mages. Once I had cut Irving free, he moved his hands in front of him and rubbed each of his wrists, frowning.

"Thank you," he said wearily. "My hands were starting to go numb…" He turned his attention back to Wynne then, his wrinkled face softening into an expression of gratitude. "I am glad you're safe, Wynne. I was afraid Uldred's abominations had gotten to you, too."

"I did not give them the opportunity," she responded, kneeling beside him and smiling. "Irving, Uldred didn't hurt you, did he?"

"He did… though the wounds aren't too serious. Just some bruises and cuts here and there…" With Wynne's help, Irving got to his feet and winced slightly upon doing so.

"Come… I must tell Greagoir that the tower is secure once again, but I will need some help going down the stairs. Ugh… curse whoever decided to house the Circle in a tower…"

"Irving! You're alive!" Greagoir exclaimed upon ordering the doors to be opened after hearing Irving calling out for him from the other side to do so. "I thought those abominations would have gotten you by now… What a relief that they did not."

"The tower is ours once more, Greagoir," Irving assured with a weak smile and moving to stand on his own after leaning on Lanacai and Alistair the entire way back down to the bottom floor of the tower. "Uldred has been killed, and so have the other abominations and demons that had been set loose upon the tower."

"Lies!" I turned my head and raised an eyebrow at the angry templar that had just stormed out after us, and I recognized him as Cullen, the templar who had tried telling us to kill everyone in the Harrowing Chamber. He certainly didn't look happy, looking at Greagoir urgently with almost wild eyes.

"How do you know Irving has not been turned into abomination?" he demanded, glaring at him with distrust. "There could be a demon inside of him right now, lying in wait!"

"Give it a rest already," I heard Alistair grumble next to me, and I couldn't help but chuckle lightly.

"Enough, Cullen," commanded Greagoir harshly, frowning deeply at the younger templar. Cullen fell silently, though he still looked less than pleased. "If Irving says we have won back the tower, I believe him." Greagoir turned his attention toward Irving then, a slight smile lighting up his features. "I am glad to see you safe, Irving."

Irving chuckled, the corners of his kind eyes wrinkling slightly as he smiled at the templar commander. "Thank you, Greagoir. I'm sure we'll be at each other's throats again in no time." With that, he walked away, no doubt to check on the other mages who had survived the attack on the tower.

"Thank you for your help, Warden," Greagoir said suddenly. "We would not have been able to win back the tower without you."

"I'm glad I was able to help," Lanacai said with a grin, crossing his arms. "However… there is still the matter of the Blight at hand. Can I count on you and your templars to assist us in the coming battle?"

"I regret to say that I cannot comply with your request," Greagoir said apologetically with a sigh. "My men and I must remain here and keep watch over the mages to ensure that nothing like this happens again… but the mages are free to assist you if they wish. You should ask Irving."

"I'll be sure to do that. Thank you." Lanacai and Greagoir shook hands before Lanacia walked over to Irving, and we all followed him. After the Warden said his name to get the First Enchanter's attention, Irving turned to face us.

"Ah, the Grey Wardens. I wish to thank you for everything you have done for the Circle. You have our eternal gratitude."

"It was nothing. However, I wish to request something from you, if I may."

"You may ask whatever you'd like."

"As you know, another Blight is upon us," Lanacai began, his expression grim. "My friends and I came here in the hopes that you may be able to assist us in the fight against the archdemon."

"The Circle was nearly destroyed by Uldred's attempts to take over the tower," Irving stated, a small frown upon his wizened face. "We have much to do here if we're going to restore the tower to its former glory. However… I can promise you the assistance of whatever Circle mages remain in the battle against the Blight. Think of it as repayment for helping us."

"If I may, Irving," Wynne interrupted, smiling at the old mage, "I would like to accompany the Warden and his friends."

"Wynne, we need you here."

"That may be true… but with the Blight just on the horizon, I am also needed elsewhere."

A few minutes of silence passed by and finally, Irving sighed and smiled a bit at Wynne. "You always were one to fancy the world outside the tower. Very well, Wynne. I give you leave to go, provided the Warden will have you." I watched as Wynne looked at Lanacai expectantly, clearly hoping that he would welcome her into our group. Personally, I hope he accepted her offer to help us. For a woman of her age, she was rather attractive.

Finally, Lanacai smiled at Wynne kindly and nodded. "I would be honored if you accompanied us, Wynne."

"Thank you, Lanacai," she said gratefully with a light laugh. "And don't worry; I won't slow you down."

"Well, I think it's time we were off," Lanacai said to Irving, turning his attention back toward the exhausted old mage. "I wish you the best of luck in rebuilding the Circle, Irving."

"Thank you. May the Maker watch over you, Grey Warden."

With our farewells established, we left the tower and took the little rowboat back to shore, leaving the massive tower behind us. My wounds were beginning to bother me even more now… but I wasn't about to complain. One as awesome as myself never complains. No… the ability to make complaints had been beaten out of me years ago. At the rather amusing thought of Lanacai giving me thirty lashes for complaining about something stupid, I felt my face get hot.

_Oh, don't be ridiculous. Wishful thinking never helped anyone._

**End of chapter 11. Hope you enjoyed it! :) Now, depending on if writer's block decides to kick my $$ again or not, I will have the next chapter up a.s.a.p. **

**See you next chapter!  
**


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